Halo: New Journey
by Black Tribal
Summary: After a rescue attempt goes wrong, John and Arbiter crash land on the planet below them and discover strange creatures. Now avoiding Team Galactic, they are helped by an explorer named Nolan, who is friends with Legendaries. What adventure will ensue?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I wrote a Halo/Pokemon crossover because I think there aren't enough of those type of stories.**

**_Disclaimer__: _**I don't own Halo or Pokemon, just my OC's

_They let me pick. Did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and _

_swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something that no one saw, but me. Can you guess? _

_Luck. _

_Was I wrong?_

In the far reaches of space, the floating aft section of the _Forward unto Dawn _was drifting aimlessly. Inside the wreckage,a large figure was floating into a room filled with a room full of cryotubes. This figure was 7 feet tall and was wearing green armor with a helmet that had a reflective orange visor.

Then, a hologram of a woman appeared on a pedestal, called a Holotank. She had medium length hair and had codes and data flowing across her blue, holographic body. She then spoke in a soft voice. "I'll drop a beacon. But it'll be awhile before anyone finds us." The armored figure pulled himself into one of the cryotubes. "Years, even." The tall person looked up at the hologram. "I'll miss you." The figure smiled a small smile underneath his helmet. "Wake me. When you need me." he spoke in a gruff voice. The holographic woman smiled and nodded. The cryotube then closed and sealed itself, freezing the figure inside. The hologram gave out a sigh and then disappeared.

Unknown to the hologram and the armored soldier, an orange and light blue figure with a purple gem in the middle of it's chest and tentacle like arms was floating near the wreckage and looking through one of the windows. It nodded to itself and turned around and flew back to the planet below.

-o-o-o-o-

'5 months. It has been 5 months to the day that the Chief has been frozen.' Cortana thought to herself. She looked over at the cryotube holding the Spartan that she had known for such a long time now. Stepping off of the Holotank that she was standing on, she walked over to him, growing in size until she was now about 5 and a half feet tall. She ran her hand across the glass on the tube and gazed into the visor of the green Spartan.

Something snapped her out of her thoughts. 'The proximity alarm?' She did a scan of the area around the _Forward Unto Dawn_. There was a small vessel heading towards them. Cortana smiled, then looked at the frozen Spartan again. "Don't worry Chief. It won't be long now." She then disappeared and reappeared on the pedestal she was previously on. 'Time to wake up.' She then began the un-thawing process.

Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra (John)-117 groggily opened his eyes. He saw the hatch of the cryotube open. "Wakey wakey, John. Don't keep a lady waiting." a familiar voice teased. Master Chief smirked under his helmet. "Chief, there's a vessel heading towards us, but I can't tell what kind it is though. It seems to be of alien origin." John's smirk disappeared and his military training kicked.

Slowly got out of the cryotube and carefully stretched out his muscles. After getting his muscles stretched out, he floated over to a weapon's rack and grabbed the lone Assault Rifle on it. He then floated over to the Holotank and quickly pulled out the data chip containing Cortana. Master Chief then heard the AI's voice in his head, thanks to the neural link he now shared with her. _I can't tell what class the ship is, but I recognize the way it's build. It's design is similar to a Phantom._ The chief took the safety off his weapon. "Covenant?" The voice then sounded curious. _No, and I only detect one lifeform on it._

The Chief then started to float towards the Armory. "Which direction is it coming from?" _From the northern end of the ship._ Master Chief grabbed some ammunition that was still floating around the Armory. He then slowly floated towards the northern end of the wreckage, his weapon at the ready. Cortana then spoke in his mind. _The figure is now 50 yards from your current location._

The Chief hid behind the corner of the wall he was behind and watched his HUD map. The figure was slowly heading towards his location. _30 yards._ The Chief could then hear a soft thumping sound of feet pushing off of metal. _10 yards._ The grip on his weapon tightened. _1 yard._ The Chief then jumped out from the corner of the hall and grabbed the figure around the neck and he held it against the wall with the barrel of the Assault Rifle pointed at it's head.

The Chief could now see that the figure was 7' 10" tall and had leathery skin. The beings leg were bent at an odd angle and it had mandibles. It was a Sangheili. But when Master Chief took a closer look, he saw that the armor it was wearing was a bronze-copper color and it looked like ceremonial designs were carved into it.

It was none other than the Arbiter, Thel Vadam. A chuckle emitted behind the oxygen mask that Arbiter was wearing. "It's good to see that you are alive, Spartan." Master Chief let go of the Sangheili. "What are you doing here, Arbiter?" Thel looked into the visor of the Chief. "When the search for you was called off 4 months ago, I decided to take a repair ship and look for you myself. I kept searching because I had a feeling that you were still alive. I was able to pick up the weak emergency beacon that was sent out from this ship."

Cortana then spoke up, using the speakers the suit contained. "You traveled all this way for that long, just to find _us_?" The Arbiter smirked. "Yes, and it is nice to know that you still haven't fallen into rampancy, AI."

"It's Cortana." she said irritably. Arbiter clicked his mandibles, his version of a shrug. The Chief then spoke up. "Maybe we should get out of here and back home." "I agree." said Thel. They both turned around and floated towards the location of the repair ship. When the ship came into view, John hesitated, something that he rarely does.

The ship, if you could call it that, looked pitiful. The hull was damaged, there was plasma burns everywhere, and there was a lot of wires hanging everywhere. Cortana was the first to speak. "That's a ship? I've seen Warthogs with less damage than that." The Arbiter spoke with irritation in his voice. "It was the best that I could get on short notice, and I got the damage from a group of Jiralhanae and Unggoy that still believed in the Great Journey, the pathetic fools." Thel Vadam then hopped into the pilot's seat. "Come, Spartan. Time is wasting." Chief shook his head and got onto the ship and pulled the hatch shut.

Arbiter started to push some buttons and typed on holographic keyboard. The repair ship started to pull away from what was once the aft section of the _Forward Unto Dawn_. After pulling a lever and pressing another button, the ship's thrusters ignited and the repair ship started to turn around. But then, a loud 'BANG' was heard and the whining sound of a dying engine rang through the inside of the ship.

The Chief spoke. "What was that?" The Arbiter started to furiously press buttons on the keyboard. "The plasma induction turbine in the right thruster just exploded." Master Chief ran up to the pilot's seat. "Can it be fixed?" Arbiter shook his head. "No. I don't have the tools to do so. We are also caught in the gravitational pull of the planet below us. If one of us gets outside of the ship, that person will drift towards the planet. I suggest we try to pilot the ship for a crash landing on the planet's surface." Master Chief nodded in agreement and strapped himself into the co-pilot's seat.

The gravity started to pull the ship towards the planet. The ship started to groan and creak from the stress of re-entry, the hull began to glow red from the heat, and the entire ship was rocking and jerking violently in different directions. Both Master Chief and the Arbiter were pushed back into their seats from the massive G's and their vision began to blur. Luckily their military training and their suits were preventing them from passing out.

Suddenly, a very loud groan and the sound of metal ripping apart echoed throughout the ship. With one last groan, the entire back of the ship ripped away, leaving only the cockpit left. The Chief and Thel started to panic. The Sangheili's voice was heard over Master Chief's comm link. "Hang on Spartan!"

Not 2 seconds afterwords, the thick metal seats that John and Thel were still sitting in were suddenly ripped from their mountings, leaving them both exposed to the open atmosphere and separated from the cockpit.

Master Chief's armor and shields were currently keeping him from being roasted alive like a marshmallow over an open fire. He tore the harness he was wearing off and he grabbed the seat and placed it in front of him. "Arbiter! Take the seat and use it as a re-entry shield!" he yelled over his comm link. John turned his head to look at the Arbiter, but his eyes widened when he saw that Thel was unconscious and was falling like a ragdoll.

All of a sudden, an orange and blue blur flew through the atmosphere like a bullet and headed straight for the Arbiter. It then wrapped what looked like tentacles around Thel's torso and pressed itself against Thel's back. Cortana spoke up with an alarmed tone. _What in the world is that? _"I don't know Cortana, but it looks like its slowing Arbiter's descent." And that was the truth, because it started to pull back and the velocity of Thel's descent started to decrease considerably. A powerful jolt caused the seat that Chief was currently holding to hit him in the head. Hard.

The world around Master Chief started to fade and the last thing he remembered seeing was the strange being pulling the Arbiter towards his direction.

**Author's Note: Can anyone guess what the orange and blue being is?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I didn't think I would be right this chapter since August 19 is my B-Day. I would like to thank Wilfre the dark for his review.**

**_Disclaimer__: _**I don't own Halo or Pokemon, just my OC's

_Chief? ...Chief? ...Come on Chief. Open your eyes._John-117 slowly opened his eyes, much to the relief of Cortana. _Thank goodness!I thought you would never wake up._Master Chief slowly sat up. "You know it'll take a lot more than that to kill me." Cortana chuckled. _It's good to know that your alright, John._Master Chief smiled slightly under his helmet. He sat up and then started to look around at his surroundings.

He was in a clearing with green grass in a large, lush forest with large bushes surrounding him. He also noticed that the Arbiter was lying a few feet away from him, unconscious, but alive. Surprisingly, he and the Arbiter weren't in a large crater surrounded by shrapnel. "Cortana? What happened when I blacked out, and what was that thing that saved Arbiter?" He was about to repeat the question when she didn't answer him, but then she did. _I don't quite know, Chief. The cameras to your suit went offline when you blacked out._The Spartan gave out a sigh. "I guesswe'll figure out eventually what it was."

A rustling sound in the bushes that were a few yards to his left snapped him out of his thoughts. What came out made the Chief's eyes widen, which rarely ever happens.

Standing in front of the bushes, was a bipedal, 4 foot tall brown rabbit. It had very long ears with tan colored fur around it's paws, the bottom half of it's legs, and at the end of it's ears. It was standing there with it's head tilted in confusion. It's eyes then shifted over from his to the out-cold Arbiter.

It made it's way over to the Arbiter and stood on one knee and placed it's paws on his neck, probably to check for a pulse. _Chief, do you have any idea what that is?_Chief shook his head 'no'. After about a minute, the bunny gave a grin and turned it's head and looked at Master Chief. "Lop. Lopunny lop." _So it can speak. But I've never heard that language before._

The rabbit got up and walked towards the Chief. John stiffened, his military training getting him ready to attack if necessary. The brown bunny, who the Chief deduced was female because of the sound of her voice, stopped and sat down right next to Master Chief. Then, the smile on her face disappeared and it was replaced with a curious expression. She leaned forward and placed a paw on top of Chief's helmet. She then gained a thinking expression and started to run her paws around his helmet. The paws came to a stop on the clasps that kept his helmet on. The bunny then undid one of the clasps.

The Chief's hands immediately flew up and gently rested on her arms to keep her from continuing. His eyes rested on the bunny's red ones. "Please, I prefer to keep my helmet on at all costs." She just stared at him for a few seconds before she then smiled warmly and nodded, re-doing the clasp she undid. The rabbit stood up and looked at where she came out of the bushes. She cupped her hands around her mouth. "LOPUNNY! LOP LOP PUNNY LOP!" she shouted at the top of her voice.

After a few seconds, the bushes started to rustle again and what came out made Chief's jaw drop even further than before. The first creature to come out was what looked like a tan kitsune with nine tails, a hell hound with ribs going down it's back with horns on it's head, and finally, a large gray dog with black fur going down it's back, and it had piercing red eyes.

The hell hound barked a few times and ran over to the Arbiter with the bunny talking to it in their strange language. Cortana was amazed. _I can't believe they can understand each other. _Master Chief nodded.

While the bunny and the hell hound conversed, the gray dog and the fox casually walked over him. The tan fox stopped and sat down next to him while the dog started to sniff him. The kitsune smiled softly. "Nine." Master Chief just stared at it. "Nine what?" The tan fox giggled. "Nine, ninetales, tales ninetales." Again, the Chief just stared at it. The fox giggled again and then laid down on it's stomach. The gray dog then walked over on the Chief's right side. It smiled too, barked a few times, then also laid down.

A loud groan emitted from the Chief's left and he looked in that direction. The bunny and the hell hound took a step back as the Sangheili slowly sat up and rubbed his head with his eyes still closed. _I wonder how he'll react to the creatures around him._After Cortana made that comment, the Arbiter opened his eyes and looked around him. His eyes landed on the hell hound standing to his right.

He froze, he didn't even breathe. Master Chief then saw a devilish smirk appear on the black hound's muzzle. It then barked. The Arbiter let out a yelp that was unlike him and fell onto his back. Master Chief chuckled and Cortana broke out into laughter in his head. All of the creatures around them also broke out into laughter.

The hell hound then stopped and walked over to the shocked and embarrassed Arbiter. She, according to Cortana, then laid down next to Arbiter and rested her head on him. The Arbiter looked at the hound in confusion before hesitantly laying his hand on her neck. The Chief was worried that he was going to try to break her neck, but those worries vanished when he actually started to _pet_ her. She appeared to be enjoying it, too. _I've never seen the Arbiter act like that before._ Master chief nodded in agreement.

All of a sudden, the gray dog then stuck it's nose up and started to sniff the air. The fox, seeing this, then started to perk it's ears in every direction. The gray and black dog then barked at the bunny and hell hound. They looked at the gray dog and then the hell hound started to sniff the air too and the rabbit also perked her ears. They all looked at each other and nodded. They all stood up and ran back into the bushes. The rabbit gave one final wave before she disappeared into the bushes, too.

The Arbiter looked back at Master Chief. "What were those creatures? And what got them so spooked?" The Chief shrugged. "I don't know." Then, Master Chief looked into the sky. His keen hearing picked up the sound of helicopter rotors. "I think whatever spooked them is coming this way."

After a few seconds, a helicopter flew into view above the treetops. The helicopter was large, gray, and had a strange 'G' symbol on the side. A group of 7 people suddenly rappelled out of the helicopter and landed, surrounding the Spartan and the Sangheili. All of them pulled out a strange looking rifle and pointed them at the Chief and Arbiter, small red dots glowing on their armor from the laser pointers on the rifles. Master Chief and Arbiter immediately stood up and took on a battle stance.

One of the people in the group, presumably the leader, then spoke up in a commanding tone. "Stand down, aliens, or we will not hesitate to kill you!" The Arbiter then growled. "I will not stand down to a bunch of human weaklings!" The leader gasped. "So you can speak English! You will definitely make a fine experiment, indeed. Take them down!" he ordered the rest of the group.

Suddenly, a loud 'Bang' echoed throughout the forest. One of the soldiers suddenly fell to the ground with electricity arcing across his body. Then another 'Bang' sounded and another soldier fell to the same fate. Master Chief took the moment of distraction to tackle one of the soldiers, take his weapon, and knock him out cold with his fist. Chief then grabbed another weapon from an already fallen soldier and tossed it to the Arbiter, who expertly caught it. They both trained their weapons on the remaining soldiers. The leader, who was furious, then yelled at them. "By the order of Team Galactic, I command you two aliens to stand down immediately!" An unfamiliar and mocking laugh then rang out from behind a tree. Stepping out from behind the tree, a figure appeared.

The unknown figure looked to be around 17 years old and was wearing a black hat with the brim facing forward, a pair of silver, mirrored aviators, and a black camo bandana covering his nose and mouth, hiding his face. He had on a type of black cowl with the hood pulled down and the cape was draped over his right side. Underneath the cowl, he had on a black t-shirt. He also had on dark blue jeans with a black belt that had a red strip on it with a pair of black army boots. Their was a long chain wrapped between the junction of his neck and shoulder and the left side of his waist that had a large weight on one end and a small blade on the other. What looked like a black and silver Colt M1911was strapped to his right hip in a holster and a Model 1887 lever-action shotgun with the silver barrel cut short and the black stock sawed off was being held in his hands.

The figure laughed again. "What's the matter, Drake? You don't look happy to see me again." he mocked. Apparently the leader, named Drake, was terrified of him. "What the hell are_you _doing here, Shadow Hunter?" The figure cocked his shotgun, popping out a spent shell casing and reloading a new one. "I'm here to prevent you from taking these two. I'd give up if I were you. You can't win, your outnumbered." The bushes all around them started to rustle and out stepped all of the strange creatures that the Chief and Arbiter had met before.

The creatures then started to growl and took on a battle stance. Drake looked around him in fear. "Retreat! Everyone, retreat!" The leader then tapped a button on his belt and he quickly rose towards the helicopter above them. The remaining soldiers then grabbed the wounded and also tapped a button on their belts, the rappel line retracting and raising them back to the helicopter. Then the chopper rocked slightly and then flew away quickly.

The creatures dropped their battle stances and sighed in relief. The strange figure then put the safety 'on' on his shotgun and holstered it on his back with the barrel pointed downward. He slowly walked forward while the Chief and Arbiter then pointed their weapons at the figure. The Shadow Hunter then stopped and put his hands up in a defensive manner. "Whoa, whoa, no need to point them at me. I'm a friend, I don't want to attack you." Master Chief and the Arbiter slowly lowered their weapons.

The figure then pulled the bandana down and took off his Aviators and placed them on his hat, which he pulled the brim up slightly to reveal his hazel eyes. The Chief was surprised. The figure really _was _a 17 year old teenager. _I can't believe this kid actually scared off the rest of that group of soldiers with intimidation alone. _John nodded in agreement.

The kid smiled at the Spartan, but when he looked at Thel Vadam, his face gained a curious expression. He slowly walked up to the Arbiter and stopped a few feet from him and looked up at his face. "I've never seen a person like you before. What is the name of your species, if I may ask?" The Arbiter looked at the teenager with a surprised expression.

Most people would have screamed and called him a monster instead of being called a 'person'. The Arbiter guessed he could trust this human. "My species' name is Sangheili. I am called The Arbiter." Though he wouldn't reveal his true name yet.

The human cocked his head to the side in contemplation, but then smiled and offered his hand to the Arbiter. "Well it's nice to meet you Arbiter." The Sangheili slowly rose his hand and shook the teen's hand, although his hand was much bigger and pretty much covered the human's entire hand. "A pleasure." he replied.

The kid disconnected his hand from the Arbiter's and he walked over to the Master Chief. He again stuck out his hand. "And you are...?" The Chief slowly shook his hand. "Master Chief." Cortana decided that she wasn't gonna get left out of the introductions. "**And I am Cortana.**" The kid immediately let go of the Chief's hand and gained a surprised expression. "Who said that?" The Chief then patted the back of his helmet. "That was Cortana, the AI that I am currently carrying in my helmet." The kid stared at him for a few seconds before finally nodded in understanding. "Alright, it's nice to meet you, Cortana. Gotta say, I've never met an AI that could hold a conversation. Cortana smiled. "**Thanks, and what is your name?**" she questioned.

The teenager quickly waved at the creatures who were standing around them and they enthusiastically ran and stood next to the kid. The teenager took off his hat and held it next to him. "My name is Nolan Charleston, AKA the Shadow Hunter to Team Galactic." He then signaled for the Chief and Arbiter to follow him and he started walking into the bushes. "Come on. I can take you back to my truck, then we can travel to my home where its safe." The Spartan and the Sangheili looked at each other for a second and nodded. They both started to follow Nolan into the mess of trees behind the bushes with the creatures next to them.

Master Chief spoke. "What are these creatures?" Nolan stopped and looked at the Chief. "You definitely are not from her. These creatures are called 'Pokemon', there are over 649 different species of Pokemon and more are still being discovered." The Chief was surprised. "You should also see what they can do, since you didn't get a demonstration earlier." Master Chief and Arbiter agreed. "Alrighty, then! One demonstration coming right up!" Nolan said as he clapped his hands together.

Nolan looked at the hell hound. "Alright, this is Michelle, she is what's called a 'Houndoom'." He then stood up and pointed at a tree. "Michelle, use Flamethrower." The Houndoom then crouched down slightly. What happened next made The Chief's, the Arbiter's, and Cortana's eyes widen in complete shock.

A very powerful wall of flames shot out of the hound's mouth and hit the tree, incinerating it. The hound then stopped the flames shooting out of her mouth and sat down softly and flashed a big smile at them. Nolan smiled. "Good job, Michelle."

He then placed a hand on the rabbit's shoulder. "This is Lisa, she is a 'Lopunny'. Lisa, use Ice Beam on that fire." The Lopunny nodded and opened her mouth. A ball of cold blue energy formed at the edge of her mouth and she shot it at the fire. Instantly, the entire fire was extinguished and the area was covered in a thick layer of ice. "Good work." Nolan said as he patted her head.

He then turned around and faced the shocked Spartan and Sangheili. "Now to introduce the rest." He placed a hand on the gray dog's head. "This is Scarlet, she is a 'Mightyena'." He then pointed at the kitsune. "And that's RoTech. She is a 'Ninetales'." The Chief was confused. "Why 'RoTech'?" Nolan smirked. "It's short for 'Pyro Technics', because she is a Fire type that is very fond of explosives and explosions." A strong silence occurred next.

The Arbiter decided to break the silence. "You are saying that there are over 649 different creatures that have abilities like that!" Nolan nodded, a smirk on his face. "Yep! Now, lets get to the truck, it's starting to get late." They all nodded and agreement and started walking again, a whole new respect for the Pokemon now formed.

After a few more minutes of walking, they stumbled upon a dirt road with a vehicle sitting on the edge of the road farthest from them. The truck looked like a military Humvee painted gray. It had large wheels that lifted it 3 feet from the ground, a black grill guard on the front that had fog lights and a winch mounted on it, 5 lights on the roof of the vehicle that were lined up in a row, and a truck bed in the back with a cover over it. All of the doors on the sides were removed, too. "There's my truck. Let's get out of here." Nolan hopped into the driver seat and started it.

When he saw that the Arbiter and the Chief were sitting in the truck bed, he raised an eyebrow. "You know, there's plenty of space up front." The Chief looked at the teenager. "My armor weighs over 1 and a half tons and I think Arbiter is too big to fit in there comfortably." he stated flatly. Nolan just shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, more room for my team then." As if on cue, the Lopunny hopped into the passenger seat next to Nolan and the others sat in the back seats. The teen put the truck into gear and drove.

After a few minutes, Cortana spoke up through the speakers on the suit. "**This place is amazing, but what are we gonna do to get back home.**" Arbiter clicked his mandibles. "I don't know, but since I don't know where the wreckage for the ship is, we may be here awhile." Master Chief nodded. "I just hope we can survive long enough with all these 'Pokemon' around us." Arbiter also nodded. "Agreed." Cortana then spoke again. "**I guess we're stuck here till we can find a way home.**" The Chief turned around and looked at the teenager that was driving. "At least we have an ally that could help us." The Arbiter looked back, too. "We certainly do."

_**to be continued...**_

remember to R&R


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: It's great to see that my story is getting so popular, and that people are actually reviewing.**

_**Disclaimer****: **_I don't own Halo or Pokemon, just my OC's. I also don't own anything else in the story that is copyrighted.

The Humvee jolted violently as it hit another pothole. Master Chief quickly grabbed the edge to keep himself from falling out. For the last 30 miles, they have been traveling across a very bumpy and rugged road that wasn't well maintained, and it was starting to get the Chief's and the Arbiter's nerves.

The Chief turned around to look into the Humvee's cab. The Houndoom, the Ninetales, and the Mightyena were lying down on the seat and were curled up against each other, sleeping, while the Lopunny was tapping her paws on the dash to the music's beat, and the music that was blaring sounded suspiciously like Metallica's Through the Never. Nolan was no different, he was slamming his hands against the steering wheel and singing along with the lyrics.

Cortana decided to voice her concerns for the sleeping Pokemon. _How can those guys sleep with all this bouncing and jolting, and with that music blaring, too? _The Chief shook his head. "I don't know." The Arbiter turned towards the cab. "How long until this journey is over?" he shouted over the music. Nolan reached over and turned the volume down. "We still got another 40 miles to go!" he shouted back. The Arbiter groaned and slumped over. "I can't take this anymore." Nolan apparently heard him. "Don't worry! In about 5 miles, the dirt road turns to pavement!" The Arbiter sighed in relief.

Master Chief looked at the Arbiter curiously. "Since when do _you _complain? You _never _complain." Thel looked up at the Chief. "The reason for my lack of composure is because I'm worried about the rescue ship. If the humans, including this 'Team Galactic', get their hands on it, they will gain possession of my kind's technology." The Chief froze. Arbiter was right. If the people on this planet found the ship's wreckage, they would gain the knowledge of the Sangheili's technology, including overshields and plasma weaponry.

The lack of bouncing and dust signaled to the Chief and Arbiter that they are now on paved roads. Master Chief looked out and watched the forest go by and watching the different kinds of Pokemon scurrying through the foliage. _It's such a beautiful place. I just hope we can find the ship's remains before it's too late. _The Chief nodded in agreement. The music in the Humvee switched to Skillet's Hero.

-o-o-o-o-

After another half hour passed by, the Humvee came to an abrupt stop in a small neighborhood, a large town visible in the distance. The Chief could hear some shouting in the distance, thanks to his enhanced hearing. The sound of a footsteps hitting the ground attracted Chief's attention. Nolan came into view and he reached down and closed the tailgate on the Humvee's truck bed. He then looked at the Chief and Arbiter, a determined look in his eye. "I will explain everything once we get inside my home, but for now, I want you two to lay down and keep quiet until I tell you it's safe." They both nodded in agreement.

Nolan then smiled faintly and reached up and folded down the canvas top's cover flap, then tied it down, effectively concealing the Chief and Arbiter from the outside world's view. Master Chief felt the vehicle rock slightly, then the vehicle started to move. Chief knew the vehicle had changed directions because the shouting was now to the left of the Humvee instead of in front of it.

For about 4 minutes, the vehicle made a couple of turns and then stopped. A whirring sound echoed in the Chief and Arbiter's ears, but then it quickly stopped. The Humvee then continued forward. The Chief deduced that they were now inside a tunnel, because the sound of the vehicle's large engine had an echo to it. The Humvee then made a slow right turn and then stopped. The vehicle's engine stopped and the sound of footsteps were heard.

Master Chief watched as the flap was opened and the teenager and Pokemon were revealed. "It's safe now." The Spartan and Sangheili nodded and got out of the Humvee's cargo bed and stretched a little.

When the Chief was done, he looked around. They were in what looked like an underground parking garage. There were even parking spaces painted on the ground. The garage was filled with about 20 different vehicles, military and civilian. One of the vehicles caught the Chief's attention.

It was a Humvee, like the one he just rode in, but it was painted black, had one-way windows, there was doors on it that were heavily armored along with the rest of the vehicle, it had a large cowcatcher on the front, and it had 2 large Vulcan Miniguns on the top. _Why would a 17 year old teenager have all these vehicles? Especially all of these military vehicles?_ Cortana said in the Chief's mind. The Arbiter's voice snapped Chief out of his thoughts. "Come along, we need to get going." The Chief looked away from the vehicle and followed the Arbiter and Nolan to a large cargo elevator.

After Master Chief, Arbiter, and the Pokemon got on the elevator, Nolan pulled out a key and put it into a slot on the control panel, then pressed a button. After a few seconds, the elevator lurched and then started to rise at a quick pace. After a few more seconds, the elevator came to an abrupt stop. A red light on the wall flashed a few times, then the large doors on the lift opened, revealing a large room that was had a large garage door at the other side and had a hydrolic vehicle repair lift in the middle. There was also a lot of welding tools and repair tools lying around. Overall, it looked like an auto repair shop.

Nolan stepped out of the lift. "Welcome to my repair garage. I'll give a full tour after I give you an explanation of what's going on." He then signaled for them to follow him. After walking out of the garage and down some hallways, Nolan opened a door at the end of one of the hallways and revealed a carpeted hallway with some oak doors on each side.

"We are now entering the actual house." The Arbiter looked at the teen. "What was all those hallways and rooms, then?" Nolan looked back at the Sangheili. "Those were part of the warehouse that is built into the side of the mansion." After some more walking, they arrived in a large living room. It had white painted walls, a lot of plush furniture, and a large plasma screen that had a video game console on a table underneath.

The Chief then noticed that two small Pokemon were sitting on one of the chairs and watching TV. They were small, tan, and looked almost like twins, but one of them had red markings with a Positive symbol on it's cheeks, while the other had blue markings with a Negative symbol. The twins noticed their arrival. They both smiled widely and quickly leapt at Nolan, wrapping as much of their arms as they could around him. "Mos, Menos, its good to see you." he said as he hugged them back. **(AN: I don't know what language I've heard these words from, but I believe 'Mos' is Positive, and 'Menos' is Negative.) **The twins giggled and let go, hopping over to the other Pokemon and greeting them as well.

Nolan turned towards Arbiter and Master Chief. "Those two Pokemon are called 'Plusle', the one with red, and 'Minun', the one with blue." Mos and Menos looked up at the Spartan and Sangheili and tilted their heads in a curious expression. The Plusle then smiled and jumped onto Master Chief's shoulder and sat there. The Minun copied his brother and jumped onto the Arbiter's shoulder. Nolan chuckled. "Looks like those two have taken a liking to you." He then walked over and sat in the chair, then signaled them over. Master Chief looked at the couch. "I think I'll just stand." "I'll stand, too." The Arbiter said also. Nolan just shrugged, then relaxed into the recliner.

"Now, I bet your wondering what the whole situation is." They both nodded. "Well, let me start at the beginning. I grew up not knowing my parents, but my grandpa took me in. He was insanely rich, as you can see. When he died about 4 years ago, he left me with everything that he had. Of course, that didn't settle well with the some of my relatives, but so far, I've managed to stay out of there grasps."

RoTech, the Ninetales, walked over and laid next to his feet. The rest decided to disperse and go their own ways. "I soon decided that I wasn't going to stay in this large mansion for the rest of my life. I decided to become an explorer. I soon gained more wealth by selling artifacts that I've found to museums, even though I kept some of them for myself. Along my journeys, I've met numerous Pokemon and made many new friends, some even joined me and wanted to be with me. But something fantastic happened that would change my life forever."

"About 2 years ago, I came across a Legendary Pokemon named Mesprit." He then looked back at the Spartan and Sangheili. "I'll explain what a Legendary Pokemon is later." They both nodded in agreement.

The Ninetales stood up and looked up at Nolan. The teen then pulled the recliner back and put the foot rest up. RoTech then jumped up and laid on top of Nolan's lap with said teen petting her. "Anyways, back to the story. When I met Mesprit, she was severely injured. Apparently, she had just escaped from someone named Pokemon Hunter J. I quickly took her to a Pokemon Center, where she got healed."

"After reaching full health, Mesprit told me that she was very grateful and that she wouldn't forget about me. A few weeks after that incident, I stumbled across another Legendary named Shaymin. She also had a run-in with Pokemon Hunter J. After saving her and healing her, she too was grateful. Then, after about 2 months, I was exploring Mt. Coronet, trying to find anything historic and worthwhile."

"That was when I noticed Hunter J's aircraft was floating close by with Hunter J standing out in the open with a weapon in her hand and numerous Pokemon that were being controlled. What I saw at the other side of the area, though, shocked me to no end."

"The Alpha Pokemon herself, Arceus, was unconscious and horribly injured. Although I'm not going to describe what transpired, I am going to tell you who Arceus is. Arceus is the creator of everything. All of the other Legendaries were created be Arceus. In short, Arceus is God."

Arbiter's and Chief's eyes widened. Master Chief spoke first. "You're telling me that you saved a God!" Nolan nodded, smiling. "Yep. She was very happy that I saved her from Hunter J." Nolan then laid back onto the chair. "Ever since that day, I've been visited by most of the other Legendaries. I've even became best friends with Arceus and the other Legendaries." Cortana decided to speak. "**You're saying that you are best friends with all powerful gods and deities!**" Nolan smirked. "Yep. In fact, a few of them are due for a visit soon."

It took awhile for Master Chief, Cortana, and Arbiter to digest this. They were just saved by someone that has had contact and is friends with powerful Gods.

The sounds of footsteps snapped them out of their thoughts. A bipedal blue jackal-like Pokemon had just walked in with a tall, green and white figure with what looked like blades on his arms. The jackal spoke, much to the surprise of the Spartan and Sangheili. "Ah, it's good to see that your back, Nolan. And I see we have visitors." Nolan nodded. "Yep." He looked towards Chief and Thel. "I would like you two to meet Luke the Lucario, and Lars the Gallade." Said Pokemon then bowed in greeting to John and Thel.

The Lucario then spoke up. "There are some matters that require your assistance, Nolan." The teen gently picked RoTech of his lap and placed her in his spot. "Let's go then." He quickly looked at the Spartan and Sangheili. "Feel free to explore around the mansion. If you want to know more about the Legendaries, there's a library down the hall and the first door to the right. I'll also continue the explanation later." He then quickly ran after the Lucario and Gallade. Master Chief looked at the Arbiter and he knew the same thing was going through his head.

_'What have we gotten ourselves into?'_

_**to be continued**_

(remember to R&R)


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I would love to thank all the people who have given me reviews. Special thanks to Ishidashadow for helping me with the Plusle and Minun's names.**

The Arbiter wandered aimlessly around the large home. He couldn't believe it! Nothing could have prevented this problem from arising! Not even his training and years of wisdom could have prevented the great and powerful warrior, Thel Vadam, the most well known Sangheili of the Covenant and the UNSC, from succumbing to this powerful feeling that slowly eats away at your insides and clouds your mind until you go completely insane like a festering wound.

The Arbiter was bored.

After Nolan left the Arbiter and Master Chief alone so that he could be of assistance to some sort of problem, they both decided to split up and go their own ways for a while. Thel decided that he was going to explore around the mansion for a bit while the Spartan and his Construct went to the library to learn a little about this world.

This gave Arbiter some time to think about this situation a little more. A 17 year old with a colorful background filled with exploration and friendship that apparently carried a sort of connection with Gods had saved them with only a little bit of stealth and intimidation.

The more the Arbiter thought about Nolan's life and this connection he had with the Gods, the more he was starting to doubt it. His culture had taught him that even though Gods were believed to have existed in the beginning, they don't have an actual physical presence, and that only those with great wisdom are suppose to have had contact with them. And this kid didn't strike the Arbiter as being a sage or priest.

A loud yell of pain snapped the Arbiter out of thoughts on why Nolan would lie about himself. Thel immediately sprinted down the maze of hallways until he came to a sliding glass door that led outside. Sliding the open, he then sprinted towards the direction that another pain filled yell came from.

After running for a short time, he spotted a large group of what he deduced were Pokemon. A song that sounded like Skillet's Monster was playing loudly on a portable stereo system that was nearby. A quieter yelp of pain was heard, but instead of being met with horrified gasps, the large crowd actually started to cheer. The Arbiter gently pushed his way through the crowd and was met with a sight that made his eyes widen.

There was Nolan, and he was fighting a tall, bipedal black and gray fox with a long red mane. Nolan was wearing his dark blue jeans, combat boots, had no shirt, his bandana was tied around his head, and he was wearing a pair of black, metal and leather vambraces that had white patterns on them and were as long as his forearms. He also had on a pair of gloves that had metal covering the tops of the gloves and the metal was longer at the fingertips, making it appear as though he had claws. He was also badly beaten up. There was cuts and bruises all over his body. The fox also appeared to be injured.

The fox let out a feral yell and Nolan answered it with a battle cry and they both charged at each other at full sprint. Nolan then jumped into the air and brought his fist down, but the fox managed to block it with it's arms and quickly delivered it's knee into Nolan's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and launching him backwards.

The Arbiter watched as Nolan quickly recovered and continued the battle. Even though he hated to admit it, Thel was actually quite impressed with Nolan's fighting capabilities. After a quick observation, he decided to find out what is happening. Turning towards the Mightyena that was to his right, and the same one that was with them on their journey, he tapped her on the shoulder.

Scarlet turned around and looked up at the Sangheili. She then barked a greeting. The Arbiter spoke. "What's going on? Why is Nolan fighting with that fox?" Scarlet started barking an answer. After she was done, the Arbiter only gave a blank stare. He did _not_ understand _anything _she had just said. Scarlet just tilted her head in confusion, then shrugged and continued watching the fight. The Arbiter finally snapped out of his stupor and turned back towards the fight. 'How can I figure out what is going on if I can't understand any of the Pokemon?' _Maybe I could be of some assistance?_

The Arbiter quickly swung his head around. 'Where did that voice come from?' The clearly female voice then spoke again. _I'm down here. _He then felt something pawing his leg. Looking down, he saw a cat that had light purple colored fur, a red gem on it's forehead, purple eyes, and a tail that forked at the end. The Arbiter continued to stare at the cat. He finally found his voice. "Are you the one talking in my head?" The cat only give him a 'Well, duh.' look. Then it was replaced with a small smile. _Yes. I don't think I've seen you around here before? What's your name? _The Arbiter kneeled down. "I'm called the Arbiter, and yes, I'm not from around here." He then realized something. "How can you be speaking to me in my head?" The cat's smile grew. _I can speak into people's minds using Telepathy. I'm what's called an 'Espeon', a cat that is a Psychic type. My name is Ella. _The Arbiter nodded, then gave her a confused look. "Can you explain to me what's going on between Nolan and that fox?" Ella nodded. _Of Course._ She then pointed at Arbiter. _First, I'm going to need you to stand up. _The Arbiter frowned. "Why?" Ella only sighed. _Just do it. _Thel then did what he was told and stood up straight.

The Espeon then walked behind him. She crouched down, then jumped onto the Arbiter's back. She placed her hind feet on a spot where his armor was sticking out and draped the upper half of her body over his shoulder, then shifted around until she was comfortable. _There we go._ The Arbiter looked at her. "Why are you on my shoulder?" The Espeon smirked. _So I can point things out better and so I get a better view of the fight. _The Arbiter sighed. "Alright. Now, what is happening?" The Espeon giggled. _Oh, it's just another power struggle between Nolan and Zee, who is a Zoroark, if you were wondering. They are always like this. _Arbiter gave her a confused look. "Power struggle?" Ella nodded. _Yeah, they usually fight like this in order to see who is the strongest. It's not a dominance thing, more like a contest, if anything. They're always doing stuff like this. But the problem is, since they both have a large amount of stamina, these fights can range from being 30 minutes to an hour long. It's normal, though. _Thel nodded in understanding.

After a few seconds, Thel decided to ask Ella the question that's been bugging him. "Ella, is what Nolan said about himself true?" The Espeon looked at Arbiter. _Most of what he says is true, but he lied about some of it. _The Arbiter looks at her in confusion. "Why?" Ella sighs deeply and gains a sad expression. _He doesn't want people to worry about him. _The Arbiter's eyes never leave her. "Please, if it's not too much to ask, tell me a little about Nolan." Ella gave another sad sigh. _Alright. _

_He may not show it, but Nolan is not as perfect as everyone outside his circle believes he is. You see, when his grandfather died, he didn't die from an accident or of natural causes. He was killed. _The Arbiter's eyes widened. _He was killed by a mad scientist that worked for Team Galactic. Even though the leader of Galactic doesn't appreciate experimentation on anything, the scientist decided to do it without him knowing. _

_His grandfather's death tore Nolan up on the inside, but when he found out it was because he was __experimented on, something inside him snapped. The ordeal left him very emotionally unstable. Even though this was year's ago, his emotional wounds have yet to fully heal. He is prone to succumbing to __his emotions, which range from sadness and hopelessness, to extreme hate and anger. __When pushed in the wrong way, Nolan can become a sadistic and evil person that takes pleasure in people's pain, or become a helpless child_ _that has no more hope left in him. _Tears began to form in Ella's eyes. _Even though he has friends and companions that give him all the love and care in the world, his heart and soul are still hurting. _Ella then put her head into her folded legs and began to softly cry.

The Arbiter started to feel sad, too. Filled with sympathy, he gently began to pet Ella in hopes of calming her. Ella gently wiped the tears from her eyes and took some deep breaths to calm herself down. She then turned to Thel and smiled softly. _Thanks. _"You are welcome." Thel said with a smile. _Now, I think I should continue, since you still have questions, and before you ask, yes, I feel better enough to continue._

_What he said about the Legendaries was true, he did save Mesprit and Shaymin from Pokemon Hunter J. The thing about Arceus, though, was only half true. He didn't go to Mt. Coronet to excavate for artifacts, he went there for revenge against Hunter J for hurting innocent Pokemon. He was being driven by hate and the hunger for revenge against everything she had done to the Legendaries. _

_The part about Arceus being hurt, though, was true. The sight of seeing Arceus herself being hurt in cold blood and greed was the last thing needed to push Nolan over the edge and into the unforgivable ocean. Even though I won't tell you what happened, since it's too gruesome for me to repeat, I will tell you that it ended with Nolan pinning Hunter J to a wall with a knife pointed at her throat._

_When we Nolan's Pokemon team, which included me, was able to wake Arceus up, she quickly used Psychic to paralyze Nolan, and then Hypnosis to put him to sleep. When Hunter J thanked Arceus for saving her life, she was met with a cold stare from Arceus. Then, in Arceus's words, she stated "I did not save your life. I only saved this young one from making the mistake that he would regret for the rest of his life.". That mistake was killing out of hate and revenge. Arceus then said "I'm going to let you live, because what you do will kill soon lead to you untimely death in the future, and Giratina has 'special plans' for you in the Underworld when your slow death comes." before gently setting Nolan on her back and Teleporting herself and us back to the mansion._

Ella then laid her head on her crossed forelegs and smiled softly. _When Nolan finally awoke, she made a promise that she would be there to help him heal from his sadness, as thanks for saving her. _Ella then giggled. _To tell you the truth, I think that she ain't just gonna be there _just _to heal him emotionally. I think she might have developed feelings for him. _

The Arbiter's eyes widened and he gained a shocked expression. "You're joking. Surely your exaggerating." Ella gave a smirk._ If I'm lying, may I be struck by lightning. _Her smirk grew. And _Don't call me 'Shirley'. _The Arbiter sighed irritably at her joke. "I'm still finding it hard to believe that Gods that should only exist in Mythology, are real. What's your proof?" Ella looked at Arbiter and smiled. _In about 20 minutes, a few Legendaries are coming by for a visit. You'll get your proof then. _Arbiter looked Ella in the eye. "Then I guess we'll see then if they're real or not in 20 minutes." Ella nodded with a determined smile on her face, deciding to take the Arbiter up on his challenge. They went back to watching the fight between Nolan and the Zoroark named Zee. After a few minutes, Thel figured something out.

"I couldn't help but notice that there are mostly female Pokemon in the crowd. Why is that?" Ella gained a deep thinking expression. _You know, I don't quite know. Now that I think about it, Nolan, Luke, Lars, Mas, and Menos are the only males in this whole mansion. I do remember Nolan complaining __that he and the other guys feel like they are swimming in a sea of Estrogen filled with sticks of dynamite with short fuses. I think he meant that they were surrounded by emotional females that have short tempers. _Ella then stifled a giggle. _I _do _know that most of the Pokemon here also carry strong affections for Nolan, since most of the Pokemon here are rescues. _A yell of pain interrupted Ella and gained her's and the Arbiter's attention.

Nolan was lying on his stomach with Zee pulling his arms back while digging her knee into his back. Every few seconds, she would pull back on his arms, making her knee dig deeper into Nolan's back in a painful matter. The Zoroark then leaned over, while sliding her grip down his arms, until her head was right next to his head. She then whispered something to him and then did something that made the Arbiter cringe. She stuck out her tongue and _slowly_ licked his ear.

The Arbiter couldn't help but cringe and look away, feeling his face heat up a little. He then heard more giggling beside his head. Turning it, he saw Ella trying her best to keep herself from laughing out loud. _Zee is also included in the group of Pokemon that carry strong feelings for him. Though, she expresses it in a more 'straightforward' way. I wouldn't worry about him though, Zoroarks are known for playing with their prey before finishing them off, and this is no different. Although, Zee _really _loves to mess with Nolan, since she is also the prankster in this messed up household we call a 'family'. _The Arbiter hesitantly nodded in understanding before going back to watching the fight. Nolan had worked his way out her grip and now had her in a full nelson.

After watching them battle for a few minutes, another thought popped into Arbiter's head, and this one made him give a sly grin. He then looked at Ella, who looked back, then gave him a confused look. _Yes, is there something you want to say? _Arbiter's grin grew. "Yes, as a matter of fact, there is." He leaned his head closer. "Are you part of the group of Pokemon that have feelings for the young human?" The Espeon's composure quickly crumbled and her face succumbed to a very deep blush.

She quickly turned her head away from him in an attempt to hide her blush. _N-No. I-I don't. _The Arbiter poked her in the side. "Yes, you do." He said accusingly. _S-S-Shut up! _Thel continued poking her. "Don't deny your feelings." Ella then continued to defend herself, and was failing terribly. _D-Don't m-make me p-put your head i-in a Psychic grip. _Thel chuckled and stopped poking her. After a few more minutes of silence, she still hadn't turned her head around to look at him and was still not speaking.

The Arbiter's smile still didn't disappear. He reached over and started to scratch her behind her ears. _Y-You're n-not playing f-fair. _She said weakly.Thel could tell she was fighting the urge to purr and was trying to ignore the blissful sensation. "I'm sorry for teasing you. Being a warrior in an ongoing war, I always had to be serious around everyone, but here, I can finally relax and loosen up a little. Please forgive me."

Finally, Ella's will crumbled and she grudgingly accepted Thel's apology. She started to purr loudly and was now leaning into the scratches, an involuntary blissful smile on her face. _Ooohhh, that feels niiiiiicccceeee. I haven't been scratched behind my ears in a _long_ time. _She said into his head. The Arbiter smiled even more and continued to watch the fight.

It seems that Zee had finally won, via sitting on Nolan's back and pulling his leg back farther than it was meant to bend while Nolan was on his stomach and hitting the ground with his fists. Nolan finally gave in and tapped out. A large portion of the crowd cheered while a few loud groans were heard. "Looks like the Zoroark won." The Espeon nodded. _Yep. _

A final question appeared in the Arbiter's head. "Ella, what Legendaries are visiting exactly." Ella smirked. _You'll see._

**Author's Note: Took forever to type this up.**

(Remember to R&R)


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Wow! I didn't think my story was gonna get this popular. I would like to thank all of the people who took their time to read this story, especially those who left a review. This chapter takes place around the time the Arbiter met Ella the Espeon.**

Master Chief slowly walked through the hallways of the mansion. His destination: the library. He became interested in learning a little bit about the different kinds of mythological Legendary Pokemon when Nolan said that he saved some of them, though Chief doubted the 'saving Legendaries' part.

Following the directions he got from Nolan, Master Chief, with Cortana in tow, finally arrived at what should be the door to the library. When reaching for the doorknob, Cortana spoke up. _Wait, Chief. What's that farther_ _down the hall? _Chief looked up and trained his eyes down farther the long hallway.

At the end of the hallway, there was a large, steel plated door that had about three different electronic security lockson it. _What do you suppose is behind that door? Maybe we should investigate. _"No" Cortana was surprised. _What do you mean 'no'? _John's voice took on a serious tone. "This is someone's own home. We have no right to invade his privacy. If that door is designed like that, Nolan obviously doesn't anyone in there without his permission, and we have to respect that." Cortana was now even more surprised. _Since when did you get all respecting and gentleman-like? _Chief smirked. "When the war ended."

Master Chief then reached back down and opened the door. It seems he choose right, because when the door was completely opened, he saw a _huge _collection of books that would rival that of a public bookstore. The room itself was pretty big, had cherry wood paneling on the walls, red colored carpet, some red furniture like couches and plush reading chairs with side tables that were also cherry wood, and a large fireplace that was already lit, filling the dark room with a soft orange glow.

_It's not just a library. I guess this must be his study. _The Chief nodded. Master walked over to one of the bookshelves. It was full of books about the different Pokemon across the world. _So, where to start? _The Chief started to scan the different shelves and books. "Well, I would first like to read about the Legendaries." After 2 minutes of scanning the shelves for anything on Legendary Pokemon, Cortana spoke up. _Chief, try the section that's 2 shelves down. _Master Chief turned and walked to the section Cortana meant.

When he got to it, he had lucked out. On the shelf were titles like Pokemon Mythology, List of Known Pokemon Legends, Life and What Balances It, etc. Master Chief looked over the titles of the different books and finally picked one. The book looked very old. The book was titled Those That Create and Govern All in gold lettering. The book was actually pretty big, had a brownish color to it, and the Chief estimated that it probably had almost 500 pages in it.

Master gently carried the book to one of the reading chairs and placed it on one of the side tables next to the chair. A soft yawning sound alerted the Chief that he wasn't alone in the study. Looking around the large chairs side, he saw a cat/fox-like creature that had red fur on it's body with tan colored fluffs of fur around it's neck and on it's head, and it had a tan colored tail. The Pokemon was currently yawning and then it stood up on the chair and stretched itself out. Apparently the Pokemon was asleep.

She, again according to Cortana, then sniffed the air and quickly turned her head towards the Chief.

She tilted her head in confusion at the sight of the Spartan. "Flare?" The Pokemon then placed her front paws on the chairs arm, leaned forward, and started to sniff the air around Master Chief. The Flareon finally stopped sniffing the Master Chief and then gave a friendly smile and jumped off of the chair. "Flare flareon, flareon eon flare flareon." The Chief just stared blankly at her and said nothing. The Flareon just rolled her eyes and sighed, she then nodded towards the him and the chair. John then finally realized what she meant. "Oh, you're offering me the chair you were in?" The Flareon smiled and nodded. The Chief nodded back with a smile that was hidden behind his helmet. "Thanks."

After taking a quick look at the chair to make sure that it could support his weight, he went around the front and slowly sat down, the Flareon watching with a goofy smile on her face. The chair only made a small groan, but nothing else happened. Content that the chair won't collapse from under him, John reached over and gently grabbed the old book he had set down, making sure that his enhanced strength wouldn't destroy it. Opening it up, he decided that he was going to start from the beginning. "Flareon!"

Master Chief lowered the book and saw the Flareon looking up at him with an expecting look on her face. She then locked her muscles up like a cat and then jumped up onto the Chief's lap, with Master Chief watching her curiously and making no attempt to stop her, though he couldn't believe how warm she was, since he could feel the heat even with his armor on. After giving him a soft smile and quickly nuzzling his stomach, she then laid down on his lap and curled up into a ball. The Chief then watched her give out a cute yawn and then doze off, a smile still on her face.

_Looks like someones got a fan. _The Chief's own smile then disappeared. _'Shut up.' _

After giving the Flareon a gentle scratch behind her ears, which she responded with a contented purr, he went back to reading the book in his hand. Opening it back up to the first page he started to read.

_In the beginning, there was nothing, but then, a white egg appeared in the black nothingness. From this egg, The Alpha was born. This Alpha was the powerful Arceus. With his powers he created the universe that we all inhabit. With the creation of time and space that the universe resides in, Arceus created Dialga to control time and Palkia to control space. With the universe now created, Arceus..._

The Chief was then interrupted from his reading. _I thought Nolan said that Arceus was female?_ The Chief just shrugged in confusion. He then picked up from where he left off and continued his deep reading.

The book talked about the many different Legendaries. From how Giratina was the guardian of the Underworld, to Ho-Oh and the Legendary Beasts of Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, to the Eon Twins of Latios and Latias, and even the Lunar Duo of Cresselia and Darkrai. _It seems that there is a Legendary for almost anything. _The Chief agreed.

The more Master Chief read about the Legendaries, the more he was starting to think Nolan had lied about his past experiences with the Legendary Pokemon. He was also starting to think that maybe the Legendaries didn't even exist. How could such numerous and powerful Gods keep themselves hidden from Humanity for such a long time and exist for so long without any people gaining credible proof that they are real?

Master Chief was now reading a section that talked about a Legendary and Mythical Pokemon called Mew.

_When Arceus had finally created the perfect balance for life to be sustainable, he had the Legendary Pokemon Mew create life_ _that, with the emotions of Mesprit, the willpower of Azelf, and the knowledge of Uxie, would soon become to be known as Humanity and Pokemon. Their creation is how Mew became to be known as the New Species Pokemon _

That made Master Chief stop reading. He gazed at the mosaic drawing of Mew that was on the back of the previous page. The drawing showed a pink, cat-like creature with a long tail floating above the ground on a cloud and giving off rays of energy that formed into Pokemon and humans.

Master Chief studied the picture and came to a conclusion. _'That settles it. There is no logical way that a Legendary Pokemon can actually physically exist.'_

"Mew."

The Chief lowered the book to see who had said that. What he saw made his eyes widen and his jaw dropped in complete and utter surprise.

There, floating in front of him with clear blue eyes and pink fur with small paws and a long tail slightly swirling behind it, was the creature that is said to have created humans and Pokemon alike, the Pokemon who has been described as being mischievous and secretive, the Pokemon he had just read about in the book that had just fallen out of his grasp and landed on the Flareon, much to the eeveelution's annoyance.

"_Mew." _The name barely made it past his lips in a whisper.

The Legendary Pokemon Mew was floating in front of Master Chief with a it's head tilted to one side and curiosity radiating from it's eyes. It then smiled and started to giggle while twirling in the air. The giggles actually had a chiming sound to them and they sounded feminine. For some reason, they actually calmed him.

Mew then stopped her giggling and floated towards Chief, seeming to do so with out the need for wings. She stopped when see was face-to-face with John. _Hi!_ The voice echoed in his head. _'Cortana? Was that you?' _Cortana's voice sounded breathless. _No _

Mew floated back a little and waved her paw in the air. _It was me!_ Master Chief looked at the pink cat. He finally found his voice. "How are you speaking to me?" Mew just rolled her eyes. _I'm Psychic, duh._ That surprised the Chief. It wasn't just because she said 'Psychic', but because she didn't sound at all like what you would expect a powerful Legendary to sound like. She spoke with the voice of a happy and carefree child. _Why thank you._

Master Chief looked back up at her. "What? How did you know what I was thinking?" Mew rolled her eyes again. _I said I was Psychic, didn't I?_ Master Chief then nodded in understanding.

"So what Nolan said was true?" Mew nodded. _Yep, he saved my fellow Legendaries Mesprit, Shaymin, and even Arceus herself. So what's your guy's names? _Chief looked at Mew curiously. "Can't you just read my mind and find out?" Mew frowned , furrowed her eyebrows, and floated right up to Chief until her face was almost touching his helmet. She wasn't even fazed by the reflective orange visor. _Because that is very rude!_ It sounded like she was scolding a child. _Even though I can tell that there is another presence in your mind, it's considered rude to read a person's memories without their permission._ She then floated away from him.

"Call me 'Master Chief'." "**And I'm Cortana.**" Mew only smirked. _Even though I know that's not your real name, it's nice to meet you._ She then signaled with her paw for him to follow. _I'm sure Nolan is done battling with Zee by now. Why don't you come with me?_ Master Chief nodded. "Sure."

He leaned over and picked the book he dropped back up and then placed on the side table. He then gently picked up the Flareon, who had decided to fall back asleep, and was about to put her back on the chair when she opened her eyes. "Flareon...!" she said in a whining tone. The Chief looked at her. He heard Mew giggling. _It seems that she has grown attached to you._

The Chief decided to just pick her back up and gently hold her. "Do you want me to carry you?" The Flareon nodded enthusiastically and then nuzzled his chest. Smiling faintly, he turned around and started to follow Mew out of the study, the Flareon gently resting in his arms.

_I can't believe you cracked under 'cute' pressure that quickly. _John felt his face heat up in embarrassment. _'Shut up.' _he snapped back. Mew and Cortana only giggled.

Master Chief sighed in defeat.

_**To be continued**_

**Author's Note: I hope this chapter brings in more reviews. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I can't believe how much popularity this story has gotten. I didn't actually think people read these crossover stories this much. I just hope I can get a little more popular like some of the more well known authors of this site. _Although_, I _could _settle for "That author who wrote that very well known Pokemon/Halo crossover." A guy can dream, and I plan on writing more chapters until I make that dream come true.**

Master Chief, still carrying Flareon, and Mew casually walked sown the hallway, well Mew floating and Chief walking, until they arrived at the living room of the large home. The Arbiter was sitting on one of the couches with a light purple colored cat laying on his lap and Nolan was sitting in his favorite recliner with some noticeable bruises on him that the Chief will have to ask him about later. There were some others in the room that he didn't recognize until he was nearly in the room. And who they were surprised him.

There was a light blue wolf that he identified as Suicune, a yellow tiger named Raikou, a little green fairy named Celebi, three almost identical sprites called Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie, a swan with glowing wings called Cresselia, and a small green and white hedgehog named Shaymin. _When Nolan said he knew some of the Legendaries, I guess he wasn't kidding. _Mew just giggled at her comment and flew towards the crowd.

Nolan looked back towards the hallway and noticed the large green Spartan and quickly hopped out of the chair, despite his muscles being stiff from his previous battle. "Ah, there you are, Master Chief. I'm guessin' you found the library without any problems?" The Chief nodded. "I'm also glad that I found a book on the Legendary Pokemon. Now I know a little more about them."

Nolan smiled. "Great!" He then pointed towards the Legendaries that were present. "Feel free to introduce yourself and strike up a conversation if you want." Nolan then leaned in towards Chief and whispered in a conspiring, but sarcastic voice. "Just don't let their great, God-like presence cause you to fall to your knees in breathless awe and leave you without words."

Celebi quickly flew over and slapped him on the back of the head. _I heard that!_ Nolan covered his head and ducked down to avoid anymore hits. This made Master Chief chuckle lightly, then he set Flareon down on the floor. Celebi then floated past Nolan and stuck her small paw out. _Greetings. I am Celebi. It's a pleasure to meet you._ Master smiled faintly and very gently grasped her paw and shook it. "You can call me Master Chief." "**And I'm Cortana." **Surprisingly, Celebi didn't get alarmed by the unknown voice. She then let go of his hand and floated towards Suicune, Cresselia, and Shaymin. _Come on, I want to introduce you to some friends of mine._ Master started to follow her, but then he suddenly stopped. A noise just caught his attention.

He could hear shouting coming from outside. Apparently the Arbiter could hear it too, because he had disengaged his conversation from Uxie and they were both looking towards the front door. Uxie quickly went over to Nolan and started to speak to him telepathically.

Nolan nodded, an irritated look on his face. He then, with haste, got the Arbiter to follow him and then he motioned for the Chief to do the same. He led them to the front door, which looked like it was made of metal and could withstand an impact from a car. He looked at a TV screen that showed the front gate.

There appeared to be about ten people outside the gate, yelling and shouting about something. Most of them were pretty big, not as big as Master Chief and Arbiter, and had somewhat muscular builds. Some were actually carrying blunt objects like bats and crowbars. One of them, possibly the leader, then took a step forward towards the gate. He then shouted, "Nolan! You better give them up! And don't try to deny that the Legendaries are in there! Just give them up and we won't have to destroy your house and take your Pokemon!"

That statement must have made something snap because Nolan then dashed away from the door and down a hallway. About 4 minutes later, he came back wearing the same attire he rescued the Chief and Arbiter in, but the hood of his cowl was up and he was carrying some new firepower.

Besides his Model 1887 and Colt 1911, he also had another Colt 1911 on his other hip and a large machete was strapped horizonally on his belt and was behind him. He was also carrying what looked like a PKM with a 250 round box magazine in one hand and a H&K G36 with a drum magazine in the other hand. Nolan gently laid the weapons on the floor and then he walked up to Arbiter. From a small pouch hanging off his belt, he pulled out a small device.

The device was about the half the size of a matchbox and was silver in color. Nolan attached it to the Arbiter's side and hooked a small wire from the device and placed it on an exposed wire that was hanging out of the Arbiters suit. He quickly backed away and the Arbiter's appearance began to change. Apparently the Arbiter was surprised by this. "What are you doing to me?"

Nolan smirked faintly and spoke with a hint of pride in his voice. "Using a small holographic device I built, I can give you the appearance of a human. That way, people won't think you're a new type of Pokemon, or know that you're not from this planet." The Arbiter nodded hesitantly in understanding.

After a few more seconds, the Arbiter's looks were now completely changed. What shocked the Chief was that he looked like the human version of a Sangheili. The Arbiter still retained his height, but now he had somewhat pale skin and long black hair. His attire was different, too.

The Arbiter was wearing black jeans with black boots, a large, black leather jacket, and black fingerless gloves that were also missing the knuckles. The traditional armor Thel wore also seemed to have morphed in order to match his appearance. The armor retained all of it's markings and colors and it was located on his shoulders, chest and arms, his legs, and around his mid-section. The only piece of armor he didn't have was his gauntlets and helmet.

Arbiter took a moment to look at his new form and then nodded at Nolan, a signal that he was ready. Nolan grinned. "And don't worry about walking, even though you walk different than humans, that device will make it seem that you are walking normal." He then picked up the G36 and handed it to Thel, who took a moment to look the weapon over. Thinking that it worked somewhat like an UNSC Assault Rifle, he loaded a round into the chamber of the weapon and took off the safety.

Nolan then gave Master Chief the PKM. John gently took it, loaded the weapon and nodded that he was ready. Nolan then spoke what the situation was. "Listen, those guys out there are just a bunch of thugs who call themselves 'Pokemon collectors'. They have been harassing me for a long time now, and whenever I succeed in driving them off, they always come back. I don't know how they can tell whenever the Legendaries are here, but I'm not about to let them get what they want. What we're going to do is try to scare them off with intimidation and the threat of violence. If they start to forcing their way onto the mansion grounds, feel free to him them on the grounds of self-defense and trespassing. Only use the weapons if they start to attack you."

Nolan then opened the door. "Lets go."

_**to be continued**_

**Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffhanger and making this chapter short, but I'm going to make this whole scenario a type of 2-part scene. The conclusion will be in the next chapter. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: The conclusion to the fighting scenario, but not the end of the story. Probably the last chapter I'll be able to post on a daily basis, since school for my hometown starts tomorrow. **

_**Disclaimer:**_ Don't own anything that is copyrighted in this story.

After telling the group of Legendaries to hide, Nolan, Arbiter, and Master Chief walked out of the door and towards the front gate, where a crowd of angry thugs were waiting for them.

Once they reached the gate, the supposed leader of the group began to laugh mockingly. "Ahh, so you have finally decided to give them up?" Nolan quickly opened the gate and he, Thel, and John managed to slip through before he closed the gate to keep the thugs out. Nolan then said with a fake confused tone. "Give up who?"

The leader growled and stepped right up to Nolan until he was almost touching him. "Don't think I'm stupid, Nolan!" Nolan then spoke with a surprised tone. "Oh, I don't _think _you're stupid, I_ know _your stupid." The leader, named Jerome, growled in anger again and swung his fist at Nolan.

Nolan, with almost blinding speed, quickly ducked, dodging the fist. He stood up and kicked Jerome right in the chest, while simultaneously drawing both of his M1911's, which he had in a Cavalry draw, and pointing them at the two thugs Jerome had on his right and left. Master Chief and Arbiter were then engaged by some thugs, which they could effectively handle thanks to their military training.

The brawl quickly ended in a standoff. Nolan was still in his previous position, Arbiter had two unconscious thugs at his feet with another one about to get a right hook in the face, and Master Chief had a group of four thugs in the sights of his PKM. Jerome, who had finally recovered from Nolan's kick, stood up on shaky feet and cursed under his breath. "Alright. You won this round, Nolan. But I swear that I will get those Legendary Pokemon, then you'll be the one whose sorry."

Nolan holstered his pistols and quickly drew his shotgun. "Sure you will." he spoke in a sarcastic tone. "Now get the hell off of my property before I put a shell in your chest."

Jerome quickly walked away with the rest of the thugs, some carrying the wounded and unconscious. Nolan holstered his weapons and walked towards the house with Arbiter and Master Chief in tow.

The Arbiter growled. "Such fools. Only a coward would run away. The battle didn't even last 2 minutes, and yet they retreated." Master Chief looked at Arbiter. "They obviously didn't think they would be engaging people that were well trained in combat."

Nolan smirked at that. "You know what they say, 'don't judge a book by it's cover'." They all gave a light chuckle before entering the house.

Nolan then spoke up. "Alright, feel free to just set the guns I gave you down and I'll put them away in the Armory for some other time." Arbiter and Chief complied and placed their firearms on a small table that was next to the door.

The small group was then instantly swarmed by a large group of worried Pokemon, which took a few minutes to calm down.

After everyone was up-to-date with what happened, they all went back to what they were previously doing. Master Chief was approached by Celebi while he was walking into the living room. "Now, before we were interrupted, I would like to introduce to you some of my friends." John nodded and he was led by the forest sprite towards a group of Legendaries.

"Alright, this is Suicune, Cresselia, and Shaymin." she said as she pointed at the water wolf, lunar swan, and the flowery hedgehog, respectively. Suicune walks up to Master Chief and bows her head in a greeting, Cresselia smiles warmly and does the same, but Shaymin remains behind, apparently intimidated by the Spartan's massive size.

Cresselia looks at the hedgehog. "Don't worry, Shaymin. He's not going to hurt you." Shaymin hesitantly nods and slowly walks up to the Chief.

Master Chief slowly kneels down and holds his hand out. "Don't be afraid." Shaymin looks at John's massive hand, then she slowly sniffs it. John then gently puts his hand on her head and pets her. Shaymin gave out a quiet murr before jumping onto his arm and running up it.

She then nestled herself on his shoulder before giving out a smile. "It is a pleasure to meet. What's your name?" John stated plainly, "Master Chief." before walking towards the couch and sitting on it gently, not wanting to crush it.

Master Chief watched as the Arbiter introduced himself to the rest of the Legendaries, then made some room on the couch when Arbiter decided to sit down.

Conversations traveled amongst the group as Master Chief looked out the window and towards the mountains. _Something wrong, Chief?_ Master Chief mentally replied. _'Yes. I can't shake this feeling that something bad will happen soon.' _

A small chuckle from Cortana confused the Spartan. _You know, I think you might be right. Every time you get that feeling, Chief, something bad _does _happen. I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open for trouble._

John agreed as he turned his gaze towards the conversing Legendary Pokemon. _'I just hope we can stop whatever will happen before it's too late._

**Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter is too short and not as good, but gathering supplies for school leaves me with little time to type.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I am _VERY_ sorry for not updating this story in a while, but I've been pretty busy trying to create some plot ideas for my other stories. I hope I didn't make anyone mad, since this story seems to be my most popular one. Also, in response to what Josky said in his review, I have to agree, I think I made Nolan into a bit of a Gary-Stu, but I AM COMPLETELY LOST ON WHAT TO DO! I DUG THE HOLE TOO DEEP FOR ME TO GET OUT! I figured that making it so that Nolan was vulnerable in succumbing to his emotions would keep him from being perfect. If you anyone who is reading this note has an idea on how to get me out of the ordeal, feel free to give me a suggestion. **

"speech"

_'thought'_

"(translated Pokespeak)"

_**Disclaimer****:**_ I don't own Pokemon, Halo, or anything that is copyrighted.

The Arbiter got off of the couch he was previously sitting on and started to make his way to the sliding glass door that led outside. Even though meeting and talking with the Legendary Pokemon was interesting, he needed a little fresh air and a quiet place to think. "Where ya headin' to Arbiter?"

Thel turned around and saw Nolan looking at him with a curious expression. "I need some time to think." Nolan gave him an understanding expression, but then he got a surprised look.

"Oh yeah! I just remembered! I got something that I meant to give you and Master Chief awhile ago. I think you might find it rather useful." From a small pouch on his jacket, he then pulled out a small, rectangular device that was black with some silver markings on it. It had a small screen on the top part of it and a few buttons on the bottom half.

The Arbiter eyed it curiously before gently taking it from Nolan. "What is this device?" "It's called a 'Pokedex'. It serves as a referencing tool so that you can ID any Pokemon that you see. The Pokedex is usually carried by Pokemon trainers when they are on their journey, but I managed to snag a few and make a few modifications to them. The model you have came from the Unova region."

Nolan then pointed at Ella the Espeon, who had decided to take a nap on the spot that Arbiter was previously sitting on. "Try it on Ella. All you gotta do is point the camera on the back of it at her and press the white button in the middle."

Thel did what Nolan said and held the device so that the back was facing the Espeon and then pushed the button. A second screen suddenly folded out of the back and then sat atop of the other, then both screens suddenly lit up with a picture of an Espeon on the top screen and some information on the bottom.

"Espeon, The Sun Pokemon. An Espeon is extremely loyal to any trainer it considers to be worthy. It is said to have developed precognitive powers to protect it's trainer from harm."

The Arbiter was surprised when he heard the deep, computerized voice speak from the speakers of the Pokedex. He looked at Nolan. The explorer just shrugged. "Hey don't look at me, I didn't design it. Though I _did _change the voice so that it didn't sound like a know-it-all nerd wasn't speaking to you."

Thel just simply nodded, deciding not to question the technology of this planet. Nolan then gave a smirk. "That computerized index contains information on every known Pokemon in the other 4 regions. You can also scan Pokeballs with it to see what's inside and also browse the different kinds of Pokemon without even scanning them. It can even tell you if the Pokemon is male or female."

The Arbiter nodded again, though he will have to ask Nolan what 'Pokeballs' were. "Many thanks, Nolan." The teen just waved it off. "No biggie."

After he said goodbye to Nolan, Arbiter made his way to the door, the Pokedex clipped onto a strap that was holding his stomach armor on and then walked outside into the soft glow of the setting sun.

He then spotted a small lake in the distance. _'I guess with all the different type of Pokemon I've seen, I'm not surprised.'_

He then sat around the edge of the lake and started to think over everything that has happened over the entire time he has been here. He was worried. Ever since he got to this planet, the Arbiter had been trying to figure out how to get back to his ship and maybe salvage what was probably left of it and then either repair the rest or just completely destroy it. He didn't want to risk any humans capturing his ship and reverse-engineering the technology it possessed, but he also didn't want to get stuck on the planet with no way off of it.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a splashing sound coming from the lake. A rift formed in the water at the shoreline and a small, translucent figure began to appear. The Arbiter knew that there was something there, since he has had training with the cloaking technology that the Sangheili's utilized, but he couldn't identify what the thing was.

Once the figure was completely out of the water, the cloaking disappeared and the Arbiter was now looking at a four-legged creature really peaked his interest.

The creature stood on four legs, had light-blue colored skin, had a white collar-like ruff around it's neck, fins on it's head, two that looked like ears, dark blue ridges running down the length of it's spine, and it had a tail-fin.

Arbiter took his Pokedex off his armor strap and pointed it at the creature and activated it.

"Vaporeon, The Bubble Jet Pokemon. Vaporeon underwent a spontaneous mutation and grew fins and gills that allow it to live underwater as well as land. This Pokemon has the ability to freely control, and invisibly melt, into water."

The Arbiter slowly lowered the device and watched as the Vaporeon made her (The Arbiter found out it was female via Pokedex.) way to him. She sniffed the air around him a few times and then sat down about 2 feet away from him. "Vaporeon?" she said as she gave him a curious look, but then she smiled a bit and made her way to Arbiter.

The Arbiter sat still and watched the Vaporeon nuzzle his leg and then sit next to him. Thel reached over slowly and then gently ran his hand from the top of her head and down the ridges on her spine. He must have been doing something right because the water Pokemon reacted by leaning into his caresses and smiling contently. A thought then went through Arbiter's head.

_'I still don't understand why these creatures don't find me scary or intimidating. Whenever I come across a creature from the many planets I have explored, they usually run away in fear.' _A pair of forelegs resting on his chest plate and the appearance of a concerned Vaporeon in front of his face stopped his train of thought. "Vapo?" She spoke in a soft voice.

Getting a good idea of what she was said, the Arbiter shook his head. "It's nothing, I'm fine." He was given a hard look from Vaporeon that said 'you are not alright and you are a terrible liar', but then her expression softened and she gave an understanding smile. She quickly nuzzled his neck and then walked back towards the lake.

She then sat down and took a deep breath. "VAPO! VAPOREON EON VAPO VAPOREON!"

Arbiter watched curiously as the mermaid-like Pokemon yelled out at the lake.

Not a minute later, a tan, snake-like creature that had a sparkling tail surfaced with another snake-like creature came out, but this one a blue color with wing like ears and horns and blue orbs on it's neck. Then, a solid white seal that had a horn on it's head came to the surface with a tan, weasel shaped creature that had black markings on it's face and tan and orange fur following it.

They all looked at Arbiter with smiles on their faces, which kinda made Arbiter feel uncomfortable since he wasn't use to being smiled at. It was also the _way_ they were smiling.

After regaining his thoughts, he picked up his Pokedex and activated it.

"Milotic, The Tender Pokemon. Milotic is breathtakingly beautiful. Those that see it are said to forget their combative spirits."

"Dragonair, The Dragon Pokemon. Dragonair stores an enormous amount of energy in it's body. It is said to alter weather conditions in it's vicinity by discharging energy from the crystals on it's neck and tail."

"Dewgong, The Sea Lion Pokemon. It's body is covered with a pure white fur. The colder the weather, the more active it becomes."

"Floatzel, The Sea Weasel Pokemon. It floats using it's well-developed flotation sac. It assists in the rescues of drowning people."

The Arbiter read and listened to the information on them. What stood out the most, though, was that they were all female. It shouldn't surprise him, Ella _did_ say that most of the Pokemon here were female.

"Vaporeon. Vapo vaporeon." The Arbiter looked at her with a blank expression until she then sighed and then stepped into the water. Vaporeon then turned around and started to wave and signal towards the water.

It took a few seconds for Thel to understand what she meant, but then he got it. "You want me to go swimming with you?" Vaporeon nodded enthusiastically. Arbiter gulped audibly and shook his head a little quicker than what was necessary.

What no one know about the Arbiter, was that he had a terrible secret that he never shared with _anyone_. A secret that he never, _ever_, would share with even with his closest comrades and friends. A secret that he has had since he was little and embarrassed him deeply.

The great warrior, Thel Vadam, the former supreme commander of the Covenant and now the leader of the Separatists, the one who silenced the Prophet of Truth, the one who will forever carry the Mark of Shame as a burden, has a secret that could forever hinder him if someone were to find out. A secret that he will forever carry to his grave and beyond.

He didn't know how to swim.

Sure, the secret was laughable if you were a human, but for a Sangheili that was trained to be an unstoppable killing machine that fought for a (fake) religious cause and was later put in charge of an entire military force and then an entire separatist group, one small weakness like the inability to swim would forever haunt you and bring shame to your family and would show that you were weak in front of your soldiers.

Throughout his entire life and military career, the Arbiter was lucky enough to never had to deal with this secret. Even when he was required to be near water, he never had to swim across it, because he usually had a boat to take him across or the water was shallow enough for him to walk across without a problem.

The fact that his armor also weighed him down and didn't permit a lot of the correct movements for swimming didn't help him either, even if it _was_ water-proof.

When the Vaporeon signaled again for him to swim with her, he answered with another 'no' and a shake of the head.

Wave, the Vaporeon's true name, was getting impatient. She really liked this new person and she really wanted him to join her for a nice swim, but she didn't know why he was being so stubborn. She started to get suspicious about this strange person when he first quickly shook his head 'no' the first time she asked him. Wave then started to get the picture of what his problem was when his eyes kept darting from her to the lake water.

The poor thing either didn't like water or didn't know how to swim. Wave guessed it was probably a combination of both.

Turning towards the other water-types, she began to speak. "(I'm gonna need your guy's help with something.)" The Milotic, named Violet because of her violet colored tail, tilted her head in confusion. "(What do you need our help with, Wave?)" The Vaporeon pointed towards the Sangheili. "(It would seem that our friend here doesn't know how to swim and doesn't like water. Do you think you could help me get him into the lake?)" The Dewgong, named Arctic, voiced her concerns. "(Are you sure it's wise to do that? He looks like he really doesn't want to.)" "(I'm sure of it. I just want to show him that the water isn't so bad.)" The Floatzel, Lea, just shrugged her shoulders. "(I'm cool with your plan, Wave.)" She turned towards the Dragonair, who's name was Angel. "(What about you, Angel?)"

Angel thought about it for a second before answering. "(I guess it wouldn't hurt to show him how fun water can be. As long at least one of us keeps a grip on him so he doesn't sink, I'm all for it.)"

Meanwhile, the Arbiter watched the water Pokemon converse with each other in their language. He was curious at what they were talking about. He hoped it had _**nothing**_ to do with getting him into the water.

When they all turned around to face him with the most devilish and sly smiles that could ever exist, his hopes died like a candle flame in a blizzard.

The minute the Vaporeon made a move towards him, he quickly stood up and attempted to make a mad and frenzied dash towards the house. A light blue tail that belonged to the Dragonair wrapped around his leg and he unceremoniously fell forward in a heap. Arbiter felt himself being dragged gently across the grass towards the lake.

He dug his hands into the ground in a futile attempt to keep himself from traveling towards his fear. "No! No! Let me go! I don't want to! For God's sake, let me go!" If anyone else was there to hear him, he would sound like a little child that was begging for his mother to not take him to the dentist. Luckily, there was no one else around but him and the water Pokemon.

The second his feet touched the semi-warm water, his panic levels began to increase. He felt as though his muscles had stopped working. What happened next, would forever shock and haunt the Arbiter for the rest of his life.

He fainted.

Wave the Vaporeon worked her way under Arbiter to keep his head above the water, and then Lea took over by turning him so that he was on his back. She let his body sink a little, but she held onto his head to keep his airflow continuous. She gently began to run her paws across neck in an attempt to wake him up.

The Floatzel felt the Sangheili stir, so she then nodded at Violet, who nodded back. The Milotic placed her tail underneath Arbiter's body so that if Lea lost her grip on him if he began to panic, which was most likely to happen, he wouldn't sink like a rock.

Arbiter's brows furrowed, then he slowly opened his eyes. When he noticed that there were water Pokemon surrounding him and that he was a good distance from the shoreline, froze in fear again and started pant quickly and loudly.

Lea gently ran her paws on his neck and pulled his head closer to her body, cradling it. "(It's okay. Just relax. We got you.)" Even though Thel didn't fully understand her, the tone of her voice was soothing, like a mother comforting a child.

Thel Vadam suddenly felt very foolish for everything that had happened over the past few minutes. How could he act like such a child over such insignificant fear like 'water'? When he faced the Floatzel again, who flashed him a sweet smile, he quickly looked away with a blush forming on his face, embarrassed that not only did he lose his composure, but he lost it in front of someone.

Lea and the others just giggled, furthering his embarrassment. When he managed to gain a little bit of his composure left, he noticed that his armor was starting to pull him down. Even though he has never taken the armor off before, he thought that since he has eased up a little when he arrived on this planet, he might as well go a little further.

"Please, I need help with something." They all nodded, showing that they will agree with whatever help he needed in order to keep him comfortable. "I need you to remove some of my armor, I can't move in the water with all of it on." Violet coiled around Arbiter and Arctic floated on her back with him on her stomach to keep him floating, while Wave, Angel, and Lea began to follow his directions on what to undo and what to not undo. Even though he was gonna strip some of his armor, he still needed to keep his Mark of Shame hidden.

Wave and Violet undid the clasps and straps while Lea carried them to the shoreline. After a little bit, all that the Arbiter had on was his helmet, mandible guards, and his back and chest plate. Now Thel had more movement.

Now that he could feel the water surrounding his body, he actually started to feel much more relaxed. He gazed up at the sky. It seems that he must have been outside for awhile, because all he could see was the clear night sky and the bright rays of the moon.

He found himself reclining on Arctic the Dewgong's stomach and gazing at the sky. It reminded him so much of the clear nights back on Sanghelios. He remembered stargazing at night when he was little, laying in the soft and cool grass with his childhood friends and looking for shooting stars and maybe a comet or two.

_'This place is so peaceful. It has been too long since I last enjoyed such serenity.' _Without knowing it, Arbiter was unconsciously running his hand over the smooth and silky fur of Arctic's stomach, getting a contended sigh from her.

Violet and Angel, getting a little jealous of the attention that Arctic was getting, wormed their way underneath his arms and began nuzzling his sides while gently wrapping themselves around him. Arbiter could only smile softly. "My apologies for acting so, 'childish'." They all forgave him and also apologized for being forceful by nuzzling him even more.

Arbiter sighed happily for probably the first time in a long time and rested his head on Arctic's body, who in turn also sighed. Violet and Angel rested their heads on his shoulders and smiled contently as they closed their eyes. Lea then crawled onto his lap and laid her head on his chest plate, which the Arbiter reacted by placing his hand on her head. Wave, feeling a little lonely, gently crawled onto the chest of the large Dewgong and curled into a ball, letting Thel rest his head on her soft body.

Even though Thel was a little flushed when he realized that he had let these Pokemon cuddle him like a child's favorite blanket, he couldn't deny that he liked how soft and warm their bodies were. "I guess the cheeriness and happiness of this planet is contagious." he said softly to himself as he started to feel drowsy.

Letting out a soft sigh, he allowed the warmth from the Pokemon to lull him to sleep, a soft smile on his face. _'I guess water isn't _so_ bad.'_

Wave opened one eye to look at the Arbiter, then she closed it and smirked. _'I may not have gotten him to swim today, but at least he got into the water.' _She let out a yawn. _'I hope he doesn't get mad at us when he finally remembers that we had forced him to. Whatever happens, I hope we still remain friends.' _Wave then fell asleep, a smile on her face also.

The Sangheili and the Pokemon slept soundly, the soft glow of the moon bathing them in light and filling their souls with nothing but peace and harmony.

**Author's Note: You think I made the chapter a little too 'sappy'? _I _don't think I did. Even if the Arbiter was a _little_ 'out of character', I just _had_ to do this scene. As an extra note, I used different types of Pokedex definitions because I want to use the ones that sounded better at describing the Pokemon. Also, I don't actually know if the Arbiter can or can not swim, but I could only make the scene work if he had an extreme fear of water, so sorry if I made the Arbiter look a little wimpy and childish. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: *Flies over angry crowd in a biplane* I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN MONTHS! I hope all of the loyal readers for my story can forgive me.**

***Engine sputters, fuel gauge reads 'E'* Hopefully you can forgive me quickly.**

The full moon cast it's silver glow over the Arbiter as he slept soundly. Wave, Angel, Violet, and Lea continued to cuddle him, also asleep soundly.

In the doorway to Nolan's home, Master Chief stood there, a small smirk hidden behind his helmet. Cortana was a little more vocal with her mood and thoughts on the sight, if the giggling was an indicator.

_I wouldn't of believed it even if someone took a picture and showed it to me with a certification stating that the picture wasn't fake. Though I must say, it's actually pretty adorable._

John chuckled lightly.

_Are you going to hold this against him?_

He shook his head, the smirk never leaving. "No. It wouldn't be right. Actually, even _I _find it a little cute."

Deciding that he had enjoyed the view that could be the Arbiter's undoing, the Spartan made his way back into the home.

Nolan had excused himself earlier, saying that it was getting late and he was tired from the excitement earlier. The other Pokemon had also left, probably to find a place to sleep for the night.

The entire home, despite being so large, was now eerily quiet and the lights were turned off. It was making Master Chief a little uncomfortable. Keeping an eye on the motion sensor on his HUD, he began making his way back to the study.

As he neared the hallway that lead to the study, he began to get a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, the feeling of being watched. Stopping, he looked behind himself, flicking on the headlamps attached to his helmet.

The hallway was empty, only a few paintings on the wall. Gazing at the motion sensors and seeing nothing, he flicked off the headlamps and started walking again.

Once the headlamps were off, the feeling returned. Chief looked over his shoulder once more for satisfaction, then continued walking.

_Someone getting paranoid?_

_'I'm not paranoid. I just feel like I'm being watched.'_

_Yeah, 'paranoid'._

_'Nevermind.'_

_Sorry Chief, couldn't help myself. I'm not picking anything up on the motion sensors, so I don't think anyone is around. Maybe all of this idleness is starting to get to you. After all, you couldn't go a single day with fighting hand-to-hand with a Brute Chieftain or jumping out of a frigate while holding onto an active antimatter charge in hopes of giving it back to the Covenant._

John chuckled lightly.

_'I thought it was pretty fun and exciting. After all, I didn't miss.'_

_But what if you _did _miss?_

_'It doesn't matter now. We're here and not being scraped off of a Covenant cruiser. It's all in the past now, and I'd much rather be on this planet than in a Covenant prison anyways._

The feeling got stronger and Chief swung around with his fist reeled back, ready to strike.

Nothing was there.

_Maybe you should get back to the study before some poor wandering Pokemon becomes a new decoration for the wall._

John nodded in agreement and continued on.

They finally reached the study, the fireplace still lit with a fresh log in it, his book still sitting where he left it, on the side table, but the Flareon was nowhere in sight this time.

When Chief closed the door behind him, the feeling went away, which was a relief to him.

Carefully putting the book about the Legendaries back where he found it, he began to look for something else to read.

When nothing else caught his interest, John just decided to sit in the chair and enjoy the peace and quiet, since that was a luxury when he fought for the UNSC.

Over the sound of the crackling fire, he heard a creak. Looking over at the door, he saw that it was opened slightly.

He immediately stood, almost knocking the chair back, and put his fists up in a defensive position. There was still nothing on his sensors.

_'I closed that door, didn't I?'_

_I...think so._

Now it felt like something was behind him. Chief spun around and saw nothing.

Master Chief was starting to panic. The feeling was too strong to ignore. He kept spinning and looking in different directions. He even thought he felt something touching his shoulder.

His foot caught the side of the side table and he fell onto his back, his helmet connecting with the ground and dazing him.

The Spartan quickly regained his bearings and looked around.

The study was empty.

Getting to his feet, he began to try to control his heart, which felt like it was beating out of his chest.

It felt hot inside his helmet, like he was suffocating. Undoing the clasps, he heard a hiss as the air left his helmet and he could now breathe the clean air.

John ran a gloved hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat that gathered above his brow.

He set the helmet on the side table and sighed, massaging his scalp.

If he would've kept his helmet on, he would've seen the blip on the motion sensor, signaling that something was behind him.

_John! Behind you!_

Chief turned around and was met with a wall of black as it collided with him, knocking him to floor and knocking him senseless, since his helmet didn't protect his head this time.

When the colorful spots left his vision, he felt a weight on his body and heard a light snickering. He looked up and into pair of sky blue eyes.

Those eyes were connected to a fox's head with dark red markings surrounding the eyes, on the nose, and in the ears. A long red mane, probably longer than the thing on top of him, flowed behind it. The creature's fur was mainly a dark gray while the fur around the chest and shoulders was black.

And it was looking at him with a toothy smile that was showing all of it's sharp teeth with snickers still coming out of it's mouth.

Before Chief could shake the fox off, it climbed off him itself. She, John figured it was a 'she' because most of the Pokemon here seem to be female, then offered him a hand up. Accepting the hand, being mindful of the three blood red colored claws she had, he pushed himself up with her pulling him to his feet.

The fox was stronger than he thought.

"Thank you."

The fox waved it off. "Zoro, ark zoro."

Master Chief didn't understand that, but he guessed the fox said 'Yeah, no problem.'.

The Chief took a closer look. Something seemed familiar about this Pokemon.

_I believe this is 'Zee', the 'Zoroark', if I'm correct, that Nolan was fighting earlier_

Chief nodded, which earned an odd look from the Zoroark, who then shook it off with a snicker.

As Chief brushed off his armor, he heard a soft tap. He looked up and saw Zee holding his helmet, almost examining it. She paused when she stared at her own reflection in the orange visor.

Looking up, she gave a questioning look while gesturing at the helmet, then at John.

"I don't understand what you mean?"

Zee sighed then made more gestures before making some motions with the helmet by making it look as though she was placing it on her head, then pointing at Chief.

"You're wondering why I wear the helmet?"

The Zoroark nodded.

Master Chief sighed.

"I wear that helmet because my own face has no meaning."

Zee hitched an eyebrow in a questioning gesture.

"Where I'm from, most know me simply as 'Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John-117'. A super soldier from the Spartan II program. When I wear my helmet, I'm seen as a commando that could bring a group of soldiers to it's knees in fear alone...and that's the only thing I've ever been known for as long as I can remember. No one knows how I act when not in combat, when my helmet and armor are gone...but in combat, every marine knows what to expect. An unstoppable killing machine."

His words had grown bitter as his explanation went on, drawing a sympathetic look from Zee.

"The real tragedy is that I don't really know how to be casual with other soldiers or civilians. When I wasn't training, I was fighting. When I wasn't fighting, I was training. It was always like that for me. After all, you have to keep the UNSC's 'secret weapon' in top form."

He was cut off when the Zoroark wrapped an arm around his neck, which was difficult for her since John was so tall, and gave him a half hug with a reassuring grin.

Chief smiled slightly.

"Thanks."

Once again, Zee simply waved it off and then began walking towards the fireplace, where she then sighed, laid on the floor, then finally curling into a small ball and closing her eyes.

Deciding that sleep was a good idea, John sat back into a small study lounge couch and closed his eyes.

_John?_

Chief didn't open his eyes.

_'Yes Cortana?'_

There was a small pause from Cortana.

_...Did you really mean what you said earlier?_

_'...Yes.'_

_...I'm sorry that this had to happen to you. Dr. Halsey, or I guess 'I', didn't think this would happen when the Spartans were created. We didn't really think we would have to rely on you so much. But now, you are only seen as soldiers. No one can picture you being a civilian. And I guess it's 'our' fault, Halsey and I._

_'No Cortana...you didn't know, but now that the war is over, maybe we can now get a chance to see. After all, I'm going to have to learn if I hope to survive undetected by hostiles on this planet.'_

John was startled when he felt a weight on his side and heard a small purr. Zee the Zoroark seemed to have decided that it was nicer to lay curled up against Master Chief on the lounger than on the floor.

Before Chief could voice his thoughts on the arrangement, the Zoroark was already asleep, a contented smile on her face.

Chief sighed.

_I'm amazed Chief. At first I thought it was going to be difficult for you to make friends when you got back to Earth, but on _this_ planet you're making friends left and right!_

Master Chief sighed on annoyance this time.

_'Shut up.'_

Deciding to ignore the fox Pokemon that now had her arms wrapped around his waist and a head against his side, he leaned back and closed his.

Sleep came quick for the Spartan.

The Zoroark's eyes opened slightly and she gave a small, mischievous grin. The moment she had laid her eyes on the strange man when he was talking with Nolan, she had instantly became fascinated with him. She was especially curious about what was behind the soldier's helmet, since Lisa the Lopunny told her that the man preferred to keep it on.

She scanned his face. Why would someone want to hide such a handsome face?

Zee quickly shook away those thoughts with a small blush and closed her eyes again.

She's been hanging out with RoTech, Scarlet, and Lisa for too long.

**Author's Note: Dear GOD that took me hours to write, since I had to get back into the swing of things, like re-memorizing some of the Pokemon and Halo facts. **

**I hope this chapter makes up for my tardiness.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: WHOO! Chapter #10 is here! Man, I never though I would get this far with the story, but I have prevailed, and its thanks to YOU, the readers!**

**ON WITH THE STORY!**

"_John..."_

"_Wake up...John."_

Master Chief opened his eyes and quickly sat up. He was still on the lounge couch from the study, but Zee was missing.

For that matter, _everything _was missing.

Chief quickly jumped off of the couch and looked in every direction. He was in an empty void of nothing but white. His footsteps echoed on what he believed to be the floor, even though it looked like he was still looking downwards into a white abyss.

"_John..."_

The Spartan spun around to look behind himself. Nothing was there.

"John..."

Master Chief faced forward and immediately jumped back in shock. Standing in front of him was a large, equine figure that had gold hooves, fin-like protrusions on it's neck, a wheel shaped object on it's midsection that had jewels on it, a face that was black, and it had eyes that were red on green.

It spoke in a female voice.

"John. It is good to finally meet you."

Master Chief took on a defensive stance. The equine creature only chuckled.

"You must not like being called 'John'. Perhaps you prefer 'John -117'? Maybe 'Spartan'? Or why don't I just call you what everyone calls you. 'Master Chief'."

"How do you know my name!"

The equine shook her head.

"I know _many _things about you, Master Chief. Past, present, but not future. That's Dialga's job."

The Spartan's stance didn't loosen an inch.

"Who are you?"

John felt like something was now gripping his entire body. He could feel it on his exposed head. John started to flail slightly as he was lifted off of the ground and was now floating towards the white equine until he was now close to her face, which was _huge_, now that he was close enough to her.

"I am the first... I am the beginning...The one who created all who govern all... I am the Alpha...I am..."

"Arceus."

The name barely escaped John's lips in a whisper.

Arceus nodded.

"Yes, Master Chief. I am the one who created all that exists in this universe. Though, I mostly just created the Legendary Pokemon, who in turn created everything else."

John struggled a little against the invisible force that seemed to be immobilizing him, but nothing happened.

"How do you know so much about me?"

The Alpha Pokemon gave a sly smile.

"You mean despite that fact that, no matter how much you've been trying to suppress your emotions and memories, you've been radiating them like, as the humans would say, a shockwave emitted by a large bomb?"

John was stunned.

"How did you-"

"Mew said that she could feel the distress in you heart when she got close to you. And Cresselia could see your memories in your dreams when you were asleep in the _Forward Unto Dawn_. You must have been so upset after all that had happened during the war."

Now John felt a little violated. He also felt confused on how this Pokemon new about the ship he had been sleeping in.

"You've been digging into my head?"

Arceus leaned her head in closer and spoke with a voice that sounded offended.

"No. It's more like_ you _have been _forcing _them on us. Despite popular beliefs that the humans have, we Legendaries _do _sleep. And the emotions and dreams you have have been making things rather _difficult _for Darkrai and Cresselia. Neither of them have the power to travel into space to deal with your dreams. Deoxys could, but she doesn't have the powers to calm the mind. When she first found you in the _Forward Unto Dawn_, she told me about you."

Master Chief was about to speak, but was interrupted.

"Only the Legendaries capable of influencing the minds of others could sense your presence. In only two months, we had learned _so much _about your world. It's people, it's fighting, it's technology. _All_ through your dreams."

John was brought closer to the Alpha's face, where she leaned forward more and gently rested the Spartan's forehead against her's. John was speechless.

"We have felt the anger you felt against the Covenant, the hate you harbored for the Prophets, the fear you had of The Flood, the sadness for the deaths of your fellow Spartans, and the regret you felt for the deaths of Captain Keyes, his daughter Miranda Keyes, and Sgt. Johnson."

John began to feel irritated.

"We all saw your friends and comrades as they fell. We saw and felt the pain that you went through when you first started in the Spartan Program. We felt your sorrow as you lost your memories as a child."

The Spartan couldn't control the anger that was now boiling inside of him like an angry serpent.

"It must have hurt you so mu-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT _'HURT' _IS COMPARED TO THE _**PAIN**_THAT I FELT!"

Master Chief didn't care that he was showing more emotion than he would ever allow, he didn't care that he was yelling at the God who created this world, he didn't care that he felt the tears of hate and anguish rolling down his face.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THE PAIN I FELT WHEN I SAW MY FELLOW SPARTANS DIE BY THE HANDS OF THE COVENANT, THE LOATHING I HAD FOR THOSE DAMN PROPHETS AND THEIR ACCURSED LIES, THE ANGUISH OF HAVING TO REMAIN BEING THE STRONG ONE DESPITE BEING THE ONLY ONE OF MY KIND! I HAVE KILLED HUNDREDS IN ORDER TO WIN A WAR THAT WOULD JUST NOT _**END**_!"

Arceus, still holding the Spartan against her forehead, began to glow, then shrink until she was now about three feet taller than him. She could now stare evenly into his eyes.

She gave a small smile.

"There's the emotions you have suppressed for so long. Doesn't it feel better to have released all those feelings that you have kept bottled up?"

John looked back into Arceus's eyes with his teary and bloodshot ones. He sighed, using a now freed arm to dry his eyes. It felt as though a huge burden had been lifted off of him. He felt..._calm...peaceful_ even.

"...Yes."

Arceus's smile grew.

"Good. Now that we got all of _that_ out of the way, now we can discuss the reasons why I am here now."

John signaled for her to continue. She gently set him back onto what should be the ground.

"There are evil forces looking for you and Thel 'Vadam. The Arbiter, as he prefers. They wish to rule over this world, and they will use The Arbiter's technology to do it. I ask that you and your comrade retrieve and _destroy _that rescue ship's wreckage, before Team Galactic get's their hands on it."

John took a step forward.

"But then _how _are me and Arbiter supposed to get home without a ship?"

Arceus smiled.

"That is where _I _come in. When you successfully manage to salvage what you can and destroy the rest, you two, and your 'Artificial Intelligence', Cortana, can make your way to Mt. Coronet in the Sinnoh region. Dialga, Palkia, and I will attempt to send you two back to your home."

The Spartan narrowed his eyes.

"And why can't you simply send the two of us home and destroy the ship yourselves?"

Arceus sighed.

"We can't. As much as I and the Legendaries want to help, we are currently unable to do so. Team Galactic currently has Mt. Coronet on lockdown and they are currently watching over the area. They are waiting for me to make an appearance so that they can try to capture me. Even _I _can't take on an entire army of soldiers."

John nodded in understanding.

"I guess that makes sense."

"And the rest of the Legendaries can't risk exposure for too long. Having them looking for your ship is like wearing a giant target on their backs."

John thought long and hard about this proposal. He was being asked by what is God in this world to basically take on an entire organization with Arbiter by his side. This mission, he knew, wasn't going to be easy.

...And he liked it that way.

"...Okay."

Arceus looked deeply into Master Chief's eyes.

"We have a lot of faith in you and Arbiter. This mission requires a lot of commitment, courage, and determination."

John, for the first time in almost half a year, saluted to the God Pokemon.

His eyes burned with the fiery blaze that he hasn't had since he was still a young Spartan.

"You can count on me. But you'll need to see the Arbiter for his opinion on this mission."

Arceus smiled and bowed to the Spartan as the void became brighter and she started to fade away.

"If you ever need me, I'll always be in your dreams. Thank you, John."

Arceus disappeared and Master Chief was instantly blinded by the white light.

**TO BE CONTINUED...sorry.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: And we are moving on into chapter 11. I would like to thank Siphon 117 for being such a BIG help to me by coming up with ideas.**

Master Chief awoke to someone shaking him rather roughly. So he reacted the only way he could.

He reeled his fist back and punched the thing that was shaking him.

There was the familiar sound of gloved fist on flesh and a'crack'.

"AGH! DAMMIT!"

That yell was enough to completely awaken Master Chief. He jumped of the couch to find a prone figure rolling on the floor, his hands clutching his face.

It was Nolan, and judging by how his nose was bent to one side, his nose was broken. And there was some blood flowing out of it.

"Oh man! I didn't think waking you up was gonna get me a broken nose! GODS OF THE HALL OF ORIGIN, that hurts!"

John was about to kneel down to assist Nolan when he felt someone grab his shoulder. Turning his gaze back, he saw that it was Zee the Zoroark.

She simply shook her head and went towards Nolan. She grabbed his shoulders, rolled him onto his, sat on his stomach, and pulled his hands away.

The Zoroark reached for his nose.

"Uh, Zee, I don't think-"

'CRACK!'

"HRNG!"

The Chief flinched a little at the sound of a broken nose being reset back into place. At least Zee had the thought to shove her paw into Nolan's mouth before he started cursing at her.

Zee removed her paw, patted Nolan on the head with a grin, and got up to leave the study, but not before giving John a wave, which the Spartan returned unconsciously.

With a groan, Nolan slowly stood up, a hand covering his sore nose.

"Maybe next time I'll just let Zee wake you up. Less chance of getting hurt, since she's got faster reflexes."

Suddenly, a loud 'Boom' shook the frame of the house. John flinched, but Nolan didn't seem fazed.

"Calm down, it's only thunder. I think it started raining about 3 hours ago. Gotta say, the rain is _sure _coming down hard. The ground's so saturated that it looks like a bog outside."

Nolan looked at Master Chief's face, which quickly realized is no longer being covered by his helmet.

"Huh, your face ain't as bad as I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be riddled with scars."

Nolan then waved the Chief over.

"Come along now, it's 7:00 in the morning and breakfast got made."

Nolan left the room, complaining about something involving tissues and bandages and 'how hard it is to find that stuff'.

John grabbed his helmet and followed Nolan out of the study.

_Chief, aren't you going to put your helmet back on?_

John shook his head.

_'There's no point in doing so. Nolan has already seen my face. Besides, I don't really see any point in hiding away. No one here probably cares what I look like and likely won't use it against me. But I will wear it when I'm outside and in public.'_

The living room was almost empty of people and Pokemon, save for Zee, who was looking out the sliding glass doors, The Arbiter, who was sitting on the couch with Ella the Espeon laying on his lap, Luke the Lucario, who was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, and Nolan himself, who was walking into the kitchen.

The Arbiter paused as he looked at the exposed face of the Spartan, but then he grinned.

"So, the Demon finally shows his face."

Chief glared at the Sangheili, who only chuckled in good humor in return.

"When I was still in the Covenant, I always had to deal with rumors and fear filled soldiers. Many who faced you, and lived, had always told stories about you. Many dealing about what you look like. The Unngoy would try to make themselves look superior over the others by saying that they have seen your face when you were supposedly 'torturing' them, when in reality they were simply fools who fled the moment they saw the green of your armor and the orange of your visor and hid until the battle was over."

Arbiter lowered his head and growled.

"_Cowards_, all of them."

Master Chief nodded. Even though they weren't cowards and weren't trying to be better, he had overheard marines and ODSTs making betting pools over the Master Chief. Specifically, over what he looked like.

Of course, the ones who said that the Chief would never remove his helmet, even in the presence of a superior officer and commander, won the pool.

Arbiter took advantage of the thoughtful look on the Spartan's face to scan over his facial features.

His hair was brown, messy, and cut short. His skin was unnaturally pale, likely from the helmet and armor keeping his skin from being graced by the sun. It actually made him look something like a phantom. But, despite the pale skin, his eyes were a very deep blue, and were very clear, if a little bloodshot. A small scar was on his right cheek.

_'From an injury in war?'_

The Arbiter's thoughts were cut short when he saw Nolan, now supporting some bandages and some sort of splint on his nose, coming into the room with a tray.

But on the tray, the Arbiter noticed that it had a bowl of strange looking fruits in it. Some were a blue color, others looked a little like a strange turnip, and finally, some were a bright red.

Nolan spoke up when he noticed the strange stares that Master Chief and Arbiter were giving the fruit.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot you guys aren't from this planet. These are called 'berries'. They are a special fruit that grows plentifully around the different regions. Some are consumable and good for people. Some even give little effects and bonuses."

He grabbed one of each of the three berries that were in the bowl.

Nolan lifted up a blue one.

"This is called an 'Oran Berry'. Perfectly delicious, very plentiful, and has a flavor that's like a variety of flavors mixed into one. It can even heal injuries and restore energy for Pokemon. It can do the same thing to humans too, if you have a strong enough concentration of them."

He then grabbed a tan and turnip colored one.

"This is a Pecha Berry. It's very sweet, is almost as common as the Oran Berry. It can also heal a Pokemon of any poison related injuries or moves."

He then put the berry next to the Oran Berry and then grabbed the bright red berry.

"And finally, this is a Cheri Berry. Careful around this one, it's very spicy. Can heal a Pokemon of Paralysis related moves. And if you're like me, collect the juice and you can make a nice form of pepper spray."

Nolan then grabbed the Oran Berry and began to eat it.

The Arbiter was hesitant at first, but then he grabbed the Pecha Berry.

Slowly putting it closes to his mandibles, he bit into it.

His mouth was instantly assaulted by a flavor he had never experienced before. And it was absolutely delicious! He immediately ate the entire berry before grabbing another.

Convinced that the berries weren't poisonous after witnessing the Arbiter's eating spectacle, John grabbed a Pecha Berry out of the bowl and bit into it.

He tasted what was probably the sweetest thing he will ever taste in his life! The sweet juices also had a bit of a tart texture, like freshly squeezed orange juice.

After finishing off the Pecha Berry, he decided the try the Cheri Berry.

He picked it up and slowly bit into it.

HOT!

John grunted and placed his hand over his mouth. It was like he just bit into a fresh Habanero pepper. The burn quickly spread from the front of his mouth to all around. The shock of the burn made him accidentally swallow the juices and the slightly unchewed piece of berry.

He began to cough and started hitting his chest with his fist to unlodge the offending fruit from his windpipe.

He heard a snicker, which didn't come from Cortana, who was currently laughing in his mind.

With a soft clinking noise, he saw a gray-furred arm with three blood red claws set down a glass of juice.

Looking up, he could see the barely contained mirth the was in the Zoroark's eyes.

He glared at Zee, who simply waved her paws in front of her chest in a surrendering fashion.

At least the Arbiter was to busy stuffing his muzzle with Oran and Pecha Berries to notice anything.

Muttering a 'thank you' to the fox, he drank the entire the glass of juice.

Ignoring the snickering from the fox, he grabbed an Oran Berry, stood up, and walked towards the sitting area, where he sat in a chair and gazed out into the heavy rains.

From the corner of his eye, John saw Zee grab and eat an entire Pecha Berry whole. She then went up and stood next John, staring out into the heavy torrents with a thoughtful expression.

Then, her eyes widened and her grin grew so big it threatened to split her face. It was a look that said 'I just had a _great _idea!'

Zee tapped John on the shoulder to get his attention.

Master Chief watched as Zee began to gesture towards outside and then towards herself and towards the Chief. John didn't get what she was getting at.

Giving a frustrated groan, Zee reached forwards and pulled the Spartan to his feet.

_'Strong Pokemon.'_

Zee then repeated her gestures, but then took on a boxer's stance, her paws balled into fists, and then took a few light jabs into Master Chief's chest, the armor keeping the Chief from actually feeling anything.

It then hit John.

"You want to...fight? Battle? Out in the heavy rain?"

Zee nodded with an almost childish glee in her eyes.

All it took was the large bolt of lightning that was probably no more than a mile away to convince John.

"No."

Zee visibly slumped and pouted.

John knew what she was trying to do...and it won't work.

"No..."

Her eyes began to get a little misty and she was getting closer to the Spartan.

"...No..."

She placed her paws onto his shoulders and began to look deeply into his eyes. Her sky blue eyes into his dark blue eyes.

"...Okay-OKAY! I'll fight. Just stop doing that!"

Zee's eyes immediately dried and quickly leaned in and hugged the Spartan before making her way towards Luke the Lucario, who had been watching the entire scene with a humored grin.

Zee spoke to the Lucario in a hushed voice, while Luke simply nodded a few times in understanding. His grin grew until he was now giving a toothy smile.

Luke walked with the Zoroark back to where John was. He began to speak with Telepathy.

"_Zee the Zoroark is challenging you to a battle outside. I'll be referee."_

John nodded. He made his way to the table, where the Arbiter seemed to be burning off the excess berries that he had eaten, and reached over to pick up his helmet.

He paused.

He was a Spartan. A super soldier. Capable of lifting vehicles, go toe-to-toe with Brute Chieftans, and could take down groups of Sangheili with only a pistol and a knife.

He couldn't fight a fox creature that was smaller than him with Spartan armor that could increase his strength, reflexes, and speed to near super human.

Even _if _he didn't know what she was capable of. He didn't want a repeat of what happened on the UNSC _Atlas_.

Didn't want a repeat of what happened to those four ODST's.

He turned to find himself facing the Zoroark, who was wondering what he was doing.

"Can you give me a minute? I'm going to fight without my armor."

She smiled and nodded, giving him a tap on the chest with the back of her paw.

After spending almost an hour in the bathroom unstrapping, unclasping, and removing his MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark VI, Master Chief stepped out.

All he had on now was the black under-suit that Spartans were requires to wear. It was basically a second skin made up of some type of rubber and cloth that had durability that was half that of Kevlar. 'John-117' was stitched onto the front right of his chest and the Spartan-II seal was above it. It completely covered his body, all the way to his wrists and down to his feet, covering them like a pair of socks, which had padding on the bottoms to keep the wearer from slipping on the smooth floors.

The Spartan Neural Interface could be seen on the back of his neck, where a simple blue glow signified that Cortana occupied it.

As he stepped into the living room again, Nolan, who was no longer sporting any bandages over his red and slightly swelled nose, Arbiter, who looked he might've been a little sick from too much berries, Luke the Lucario, Zee the Zoroark, and some other Pokemon, all turned there gazes towards the Spartan.

John didn't feel self-conscious. He was use to people staring at him, so this didn't matter.

Though, he _was _curious about why Zee looked as though there was a little coloring on her muzzle.

Nolan walked over to the Spartan, carrying some strange vambraces and gloves.

"Zee asked that you wear these."

The gauntlets were mostly a black and silver colored metal with leather and cloth lining the insides to keep them comfortable. Attached to the gauntlet's leather gloves were what looked like black metallic talons that were attached to the fingers. It was like he would have a pair of claws.

Strapping them on, the Spartan flexed his fingers a few times. The claws had joints on them, allowing more movement.

"If you ask me..."

John looked at Nolan as the teen spoke.

"...I think you're both crazy."

Nolan turned away but before he began walking, he spoke something that was very familiar to the Spartan and Cortana.

"But luckily for you, I like crazy."

The door was slid open and John was instantly assaulted with a cold blast of moist air and large raindrops. The under-suit's rubber and cloth hybrid qualities kept it from absorbing the rain.

His feet sank into the mud as he made his way towards the open field. It was perfectly flat and had some poles to mark the corners.

Luke the Lucario ran towards the edge of the field on the sidelines and signaled for Zee, who was starting to look like a drowned fox, since her mane was sticking to her back and dragging in the mud, and John to their way to their sides of the field.

Once they were in position, with Nolan, Lars the Gallade, the Arbiter, and Ella the Espeon standing on the sidelines, Luke the Lucario raised both his arms and spoke in a loud voice with Telepathy.

"_This is a one-on-one battle between Zee the Zoroark and Master Chief. Zee is permitted to use all the moves and abilities she is capable of, excluding using her Illusion abilities to gain an unfair advantage of which I will be judging."_

_'Illusions?'_

"_I am permitted to intervene in this battle should I believe that it is required. You may leave the boundaries of the battlefield, but you cannot leave the field of which the battlefield is in. I will not allow low blows and choking with the hands. This battle is to continue until one of the two combatants is unable to continue. You may chose to quit the battle via tapping out or stating that you want to give up."_

Luke looked at Master Chief.

"_Is Master Chief ready?"_

John took on a battle stance, his fists drawn up like that of a kickboxer.

Luke looked at Zee.

"_Is Zee ready?"_

Zee hunched down a little, threw her arms out with her elbows bent, her forearms pointing inwards a little, her legs and feet were spread, ready to dash, and her claws were flexed. She wore a mischievous smile with narrowed eyes.

Luke looked straight ahead and threw his arms down.

"_BEGIN!"_

Master Chief instantly took off from the starting point, with Zee copying his idea. Her claws were spread out, ready to strike.

When they met up in the middle of the field, Chief jumped and and flew towards Zee, trying to strike her from the air. Zee ducked and ran into the Spartan's legs, making John roll in order to avoid hurting himself.

Zee spun around in the slippery soil and tried to tackle Chief to the ground, but John saw her coming and jumped into the air, but Zee had anticipated this and grabbed his feet, yanking him to the ground.

They both fell into a roll, each one trading punches in an attempt to get the other to get off. John threw a strong right jab into Zee's stomach, knocking the wind out of her and launching her ten feet away.

John hopped to his feet and took the lull in the battle to check his injuries. A simple cut on his cheek from her claws. Not too bad. And a sore knee from getting ran in to. Not bad either.

He heard a loud growling noise. Looking up, he saw that the Zoroark was starting to glow a bright red energy around her upper body, specifically her arms. And her eyes were starting to glow brighter.

This can't be good.

Zee began to sprint towards Chief at full speed, then jumped high into the air. She bent her legs back, held both arms behind her head, and let out a loud roar as the energy crackled across her body.

John started running the opposite direction, but the Zoroark was coming in too fast to avoid, despite being really fast on his feet.

Zee slammed her arms into the ground with a ground-shaking roar only 7 feet behind the Spartan. A loud explosion and a wall of red energy struck Master Chief's back, launching him into the air like a road sign in a tornado.

Chief flew over 20 feet high and almost 50 yards across the field before he struck the ground with a 'crunch'.

John, after fighting off the darkness that threatened to consume him, took in his injuries and the situation.

He's against a powerful fox that he has yet to injure, while he possibly has a cracked rib and maybe a sprained shoulder.

He needed to be faster. There's no way his age can be catching up to him NOW.

Getting up and ignoring the pain, the Spartan began charging towards Zee, who was shaking off the drowsiness caused by using her Night Daze move.

Meanwhile, Nolan looked on in surprise.

"Wow, usually when Zee does that to me, I usually get knocked unconscious and get hospitalized. I'm guessing Master Chief isn't all the way human?"

Arbiter nodded.

"Where we are from, the Spartan is from a group of super soldiers that are called, well, 'Spartans'. Using terms that the other human soldiers have used constantly, he is a 'tank disguised as a human'."

Lars the Gallade was intrigued with what the strange creature was saying, but he couldn't lose his focus. After all, he was the one holding up the barrier that was keeping the rain off of everyone on the sidelines. Except for Luke, but the Lucario loves the rain.

Zee, even though she was winning, was getting a little tired. She had hoped that using her Night Daze would have been the finishing blow, but this human was even stronger than he looked.

Guerilla tactics won't work. She needs to get up close and personal.

Master Chief stood up, trying to think of a strategy he could use against a fast enemy. The sound of shifting metal caught his attention.

Oh yeah...he has claws now.

He spun around at the sounds of feet hitting the mud, Chief spun around and jumped to the left to avoid being plowed over by a fox running on all fours.

Zee dug her right arm into the mud and lifted up her legs, effectively spinning her around 180 degrees.

John took advantage of her pause to tackle her to the ground. Zee spun them and she was now on top of him. John worked his feet underneath her and kicked as hard as he could.

Zee was launched a good distance from the Spartan and she fell into a depression that was in the ground. And the heavy rains turned that depression into a deep puddle of water and mud.

Master Chief then sprinted at his full speed towards the miniature pond, where paused.

He couldn't see the fox.

Nolan smirked. "Bad move, Chief."

A gray, red clawed paw reached out of the water and grabbed the Spartan's leg and pulled him into the water.

Nolan looked at Arbiter. "Zoroarks are known ambushers. Some have even been known to build traps or use illusions to capture their prey. And counting on how long Zee took her time, she planned something."

John's mouth was instantly filled with foul tasting water as an arm wrapped itself around his neck and a paw grabbed his head.

Master Chief used his legs to push himself to the surface, but the added weight of a Zoroark was making it difficult for him.

He broke the surface of the water and gasped for air. The arms let him go, but then a pair of paws grabbed his head and yanked back until he was facing the almost pitch-black sky. Zee pulled herself up and then looked straight down into the Spartan's eyes.

John froze as Zee gazed into his eyes. Despite it being dark out, her eyes glowed as though it was a sunny day. Her nose was pressed lightly against his forward.

That was when things began to get weird.

Everything around them was cast in pitch-black, as though he was floating in darkness. Zee threw herself off of the Spartan and ran into the darkness, completely disappearing from his view.

Arbiter was a confused. The Spartan was just floating in the water, looking in every direction, as though he was looking for something. Didn't he know that the Pokemon was _right there_? Barely standing 12 feet away?

"Even though you are not experiencing it, you are witnessing the Zoroark's most unique ability. 'Illusion'.

"Illusion?"

"It's an ability that is unique to Zoroarks and their pre-evolved form, Zorua. They can use the power of Illusion to warp reality as they see fit. They can fool someone into thinking they have ran over a mile when they have only ran 10 feet. They can make it seem as though you are in a tropic environment, when you are actually in the arctic regions. The illusions may be fake, but they _feel real_. It's because of these abilities that they are the apex predator when they hunt. They can even transform themselves into different beings, both Pokemon _and_ human. And let's not forget that they can camouflage themselves and turn invisible."

John could hear a crackling noise. He paused when he saw the water.

It was starting to freeze. The icy tendrils starting from the edge and traveling inwards. John quickly hopped out of the water, but some of the water to freeze onto him. The water on his arms and legs froze, effectively stopping him and halting any further movement. He was froze in a standing position.

He heard giggling and snickering.

Zee calmly walked out of the darkness. Since she didn't have to worry about being attacked, she could keep up her concentration and keep the illusion up.

Now, she was going to have a little fun with her _prey_.

But before she did, she looked at the sidelines, She knew she couldn't fool Luke, since his ability to sense and see aura gave her illusions away, but she knew he wasn't going to intervene. That just left the others.

Arbiter saw the Zoroark look at them.

A huge concrete wall suddenly sprung up from the ground and rose into the sky.

Nolan sighed.

"Looks like she's going to be messing with Master Chief until he gives up. I hope he has good willpower, otherwise she's going to break him."

In the darkness, all John could see was those glowing sky blue eyes. And all he could hear was the sound of clawed feet tapping on concrete.

_'Concrete?'_

Looking down, and relieved that he could still move his head and neck, John saw that gone was the muddy and wet ground, and replacing it was solid, dry concrete. And now that he noticed it, it was like he was in a completely black hallway with concrete walls and darkness stretching infinitely forward and backwards.

Zee dragged her claws against the walls, sparks lighting up her paw.

This was going to be fun.

John realized something. He hadn't heard a word out of Cortana since this fight began. And the neural link was completely waterproof.

Arbiter suddenly thought of something.

"These 'illusions'...you say they feel real, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Then that means that they are fooling the brain into think it's experiencing these sensations, correct?"

"...When you put it like, yeah."

Arbiter sighed.

"Then, if the Pokemon has fully thought this through, then that means the Spartan will be without aid from his Construct."

"Hmmm...You know, you're right."

John stood there frozen to the spot against his will. He tried to throw his weight around in an attempt to get free, but wasn't working.

And the Zoroark was getting closer.

Zee appeared in his vision, casually walking towards him with a cheshire grin.

She walked a circle around him, lightly dragging a claw across his midsection while she hummed a cheery little tune.

She stopped right in front of Master Chief and got close to his face.

Big mistake.

John threw his head forward, striking Zee right in the muzzle, possibly breaking it and giving her a bloody nose.

The entire room flickered like a television getting bad reception.

The Chief fell to the ground in a kneeling position.

He was free!

The concrete wall blocking the view of the Arbiter, Nolan, and Lars disappeared, showing them the Spartan kneeling and the Zoroark clutching her muzzle and roaring in pain.

Master Chief charged forward and wrapped himself around Zee in a bear hug. If he couldn't out- maneuver her, he could out-muscle her.

He grabbed her arms, threw them down, then wrapped his large arms around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides and squeezing the air out of her lungs.

Zee frantically began throwing her weight around in an attempt to escape. She was still do dazed to use any sort of strategy, so she resorted to throwing her head around and aimlessly kicking her legs.

Chief began rocking her back and forth in an attempt to get her to slow down and fall unconscious, but this fox was persistent.

Zee successfully managed to land a kick in John's shins, making his grip loosen. She then threw her head back and struck him in the face, finally getting him to let go.

She stumbled, but then started running to make some distance between them. She was so _sure_ that the Illusion would've worked! Now she was gonna have to get rough.

Master Chief wiped the blood from his mouth and took a defensive stance.

It had all been an illusion. And he had broken it. Looks like he'll have to avoid looking into the fox's eyes.

Zee finally had a good idea for a move, but it'll require lots of speed.

Now that she was almost a football field's length, she took off on all fours, her claws digging into the mud in an attempt to speed herself up more.

Master Chief decided to try to counter her running by charging at his full speed in hopes of ramming into her with his larger mass.

Nolan narrowed his eyes in preparation.

"This is gonna _suck_."

Lars strengthened the barrier around them. Just in case.

When the Spartan and the Zoroark were only a few feet from each other, Zee put her plan into action.

She jumped, and threw herself forward so that she could grab the cloth on his shoulders. She gripped hard and threw herself forward until her back was parallel with the ground. She pulled and it threw the Spartan off of his equilibrium, making him fall backwards. Using her Night Daze to increase her strength, Zee landed on her feet and used all her strength to pull the Spartan off of his feet, then she bent her arms and bent herself down. She then threw the Spartan with both paws, but continued throwing her arms down and struck the ground, releasing the energy in a red explosion, launching the Spartan like a rocket.

Master Chief hit the ground, _hard_, and rolled into a tree, a loud crack filling his ears. He groaned, but bit back a yell as he felt his back crack at an unwanted angle.

Zee jumped to her feet and ran towards the Spartan, her head low and her claws splayed.

"RRRRRAAAAAHHHHH!"

John slowly stood up, leaning against the tree to support his injured back. His vision was blurring and he couldn't stay focused.

He only reacted on instinct when he heard the battle yell and saw the gray and red blur coming towards him.

He fell to the right and out of the fox's path of attack.

Zee couldn't slow down or adjust her trajectory.

She ran head-on, at full running speed, into the tree.

The trunk cracked and groaned as the fox ricocheted off of the tree and and landed flat on her back, her nose was bleeding again and now blood was flowing out of her mouth. Her right eye looked a little swollen. A huge bruise was starting to spread across her chest and she may have a cracked sternum or maybe a broken rib.

She stumbled onto her feet, barely keeping her balance, and held both her paws to her muzzle, one holding her nose and the other trying to keep the blood in mouth from coming out like drool.

The Chief had her now! John tackled the fox, but his back kept him form doing any damage.

The fox stumbled out of the way and then began to clumsily make her way into the middle of the field, if only to put some distance between her and the Spartan.

Master Chief followed after the fox, also unsteadily since his back was keeping him from moving correctly.

Managing to catch up to the fox, he tackled her onto the muddy ground.

A lightning bolt struck the ground at the edge of the field. The rain fell harder.

John pinned her arms to the ground, but the Zoroark managed to roll them over.

Master Chief placed his hands on her shoulders in hopes of getting her to back away, but the Zoroark simply sat on his stomach and began punching the Spartan.

But since Zee had a concussion from the impact that she didn't know about, her punches hardly even connected and the ones that did, didn't really do anything.

Suddenly, something clicked in the rattled mind of the Zoroark

She was starting to feel unusually self-conscious. It was completely unlike her to feel self-conscious.

She was cold, wet, and she was straddling someone that she may or may not find rather attractive.

Her fur was so badly saturated that her mane didn't even look big. Every curve and every muscle was visible on her body.

Her halfhearted hitting halted.

She blushed heavily and tried to get away from her position, but the Spartan was holding her in place.

The exhaustion that was catching up to her, the cold that was numbing her body, the blood leaking out of her mouth and nose and filling up her face.

It all hit her at once.

Zee fainted on top of him

John caught the fox as she collapsed on top of him.

He felt tired. So...so tired.

Luke raised his arms.

"Zee the Zoroark is unable to battle, Master Chief is the winner!"

He then started running towards the two combatants. He needed to get them out before hypothermia settled in.

John held the fox against him. She was shivering heavily. Or maybe _he _was shivering heavily. His arms were shaking...but so were hers. Then maybe they're both shivering. He didn't know anymore. Why did his back hurt so much? Was it raining already when he got outside? Was this still an illusion?

He managed one last thought before everything went dark.

_'She's so warm.'_

**Author's Note: WOW! Took me DAYS to write this chapter. My dang index finger keeps twitching because of the typing. Eh, it'll stop soon. I'm tired, so I'm signing off.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, but I'm kinda losing my inspiration with this story. I think this'll probably be the last chapter for awhile. Well, at least until I can find the need to write more of this story. **

**I promise that this story will not die. I'm just going to put it in...suspended animation for a bit.**

**Well, no more bad news, lets get to the good part of this story! The story itself!**

In a room somewhere in Nolan's home, there was a faint pinkish-purple glow from underneath a closed door. You could hear a faint hum resonating from behind the simple wooden door.

Inside the room, Arbiter, Nolan, Ella the Espeon, Lars the Gallade, and Luke the Lucario stood around the room, with Lars watching over a bed that had a heavily bandaged Zee the Zoroark in it and Nolan looking over a bed that had a heavily bandaged Master Chief in it. They were both still asleep from exhaustion after the battle.

Both Zoroark and Spartan were hooked up to IV's and heart monitors, two faint, steady beeps signaling that they were both breathing steadily and without problems.

The Spartan had to be nearly stripped of his entire undersuit, but luckily, it came apart by use of zippers, and a little gentle cutting with Lar's Psychic attack. Meanwhile, Zee had to get a few patches of fur shaved off in order to fit some nerve pads, the IV, and some stitching to close any large gashes.

Lar's pulled his hand away from Zee, the faint glow and the hum disappearing. Zee sighed in her sleep and shifted slightly before falling back into a deeper sleep. At the same moment, Nolan stopped checking John's vitals.

"Well, they're both stable, that's good. Gotta say, I was expecting _sooo _much worse."

He looked back up at The Arbiter.

"I think that's all we can do now. I guess we should let them sleep now."

Arbiter nodded.

"That would be the best course of action for now."

They all made their way to the door, Ella deciding to hop onto Arbiter's shoulder on the way out, giggling and getting an eye-roll from Arbiter. Luke flipped the lights off and closed the door when everyone was in the hallway.

The room was quiet, only the heavy hitting the window filled the room with sound. The cloud-cover was so thick that it was almost pitch black in the room. Only the glow from the heart monitor's screen gave any light to the room.

XXXX

Master Chief slowly opened his eyes, then closed them and groaned, it felt like he was being blinded by some sort of bright white light. And it was making his eyes hurt.

Slowly opening them again, he suddenly sat straight up, feeling a small throbbing in his back. There WAS a bright white light.

Looking around, John saw that he was lying in a bed, hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor. But the bed and equipment seemed to be floating in a white void.

There was s sudden white flash that temporarily blinded the Spartan, but when he blinked away the spots I his eyes, he saw that he was in what appeared to be a massive room. The ceiling looked like it was almost a hundred feet high, with large murals on the ceiling. The creatures in the murals looked like the Legendaries that he has seen in the book he read. The rest of the ceiling looked like it was made of gold, reflecting like a mirror.

The walls were lined with golden and ivory pillars, all reaching up to the ceiling. Large windows reaching to the ceiling and located between the pillars showed the greenery outside.

Looking over the bed's edge, he saw that the ground was a shining black and white with intricate designs.

Now deciding to look around, he was a little surprised to see that he wasn't even on the floor! The bed he was on seemed to be sitting on some sort of table.

Besides all that, the room was entirely empty. Not a single living soul or piece of furniture, except for the table, was in the room.

He tried to get up and out of the bed, but he felt a sharp jabbing pain in his back that kept him from getting out of the bed.

He could barely move his legs from the pain. Chief was used to intense pain, from getting shot by plasma rifles and falling to a planet's surface from space, but this was a lingering pain that spread across his back.

"Oh, I forgot about your hurt back. In the name of Me, I am so forgetful at times."

John turned to see a familiar equine Pokemon standing over him.

"Arceus?"

The Alpha Pokemon smiled and nodded. She was still the same size as John had last seen her, where she was only three feet taller than him.

"Yes Master Chief. It's good to visit you again, albeit still in your dreams. I must say, the others were actually quite impressed with your little battle against Zee. But I didn't expect less from a Spartan of your caliber."

John gave a faint grin.

"Thanks."

He decided not to question how the Legendaries saw his battle with the Zoroark, simply going with the answer 'They're God Pokemon.'. He gazed around the room.

"Where am I?"

Arceus simply shrugged.

"You are currently in the Hall of Origins. In a room I created just for these type of talks with you."

If Chief had spun around to completely face Arceus any faster, his spine would would've broke. He didn't notice the throbbing pain in his back this time.

"You mean you created a room this big JUST so you have a place to talk with me? How did you do it so fast?"

Arceus only gave a sly smile.

"I _AM _the God Pokemon of God Pokemon. This was simply put together with a little bit of thought and power."

Her smile was still sly, but her eyes narrowed.

"In the Hall of Origins, there is almost _nothing _I can't do."

For some reason that escaped the Spartan, he gulped at what the Alpha had just said.

Arceus then adopted a look of nonchalant and took a few steps forward until she was standing at the edge that the bed the Spartan was in.

"Now, according to Dialga, you're going to be asleep for awhile, even if you are fully healed. I can see that with all that strength and stamina, it comes with a cost."

Arceus actually brought a golden hoof up and smothered a giggle.

"Since you practically broadcasted all of your memories through your dreams, we could see some previous events."

Arceus's sly grin returned.

"In all my times, I have never seen a human eat so much and not gain weight or get lethargic afterwards, but instead get so energetic that he could run a human marathon and not even be winded by the end of it."

Chief wasn't embarrassed by that statement. In fact, it was trivial knowledge to him.

"Well, yes...Spartans, since we are so strong, fast, and have such quick reflexes, we need to eat enough to sustain ourselves. Average amounts of food just don't cut it. We need a lot of energy."

Arceus grinned a little more.

"I guess having an appetite rivaling that of Groudon doesn't bother you?"

Master Chief gave her a deadpan look.

"I don't even know who that is."

Arceus simply waved a hoof.

"Imagine a red, armor-plated lizard, I guess a Tyrannosaurus Rex in your world, that is well over 30 feet high."

John glared at Arceus.

"Are you insulting me?"

Arceus simply shook her hoof in a dismissive wave.

"No no, I'm just saying that you have a rather _healthy _appetite."

Master Chief was about to retort when it finally came to him. He was having an argument about eating with God.

He was starting to question if this was just a coma dream after that fight with Zee or if it was really happening.

"Oh don't worry, this is really happening."

John looked up and gave an annoyed look at Arceus.

"Did you just read my mind?"

Arceus grinned.

"Nope, your expression pretty much gave it away."

She then sighed wistfully.

"I must say, it's been too long since I've had a conversation like this with a human that wasn't trying to capture me, kill me, enslave me, trying to steal my powers, or is just too scared to even talk to me. And I guess think that getting visited by me makes them special, makes them some sort of prophet or voice for me, or is just too scared to speak to me."

She frowned for the first time Chief had actually seen her. And this was one of obvious distress.

"...too long..."

Shaking away her thoughts Arceus's smile returned.

"I guess it's my job to keep you entertained until the time for your body to heal up is over. I don't really do much, since the others are the ones who keep the world in balance."

She casually twirled a hoof at that.

"Though, others like Mew, Mewtwo, Victini, and some of the others don't really do anything either. I guess they could be help."

Chief didn't really have much to say anymore. This world was still new to him, and he's only been here for a few days. So he didn't really have much to say to what Arceus had said but:

"Why me...?"

He groaned it out while putting his head in his hands.

Arceus smiled gently at him.

"Strange things happen for strange reasons. I may have created this world, but I can't control the laws of existence. Nothing I could've done could have prevented this."

John felt something envelope his body and lift him out of the bed, the force making sure not to put pressure on his back.

"Now that we've gotten all of that stuff out of the way, why don't I give you a tour of the Hall of Origins?"

Before Chief even got a chance to give an answer, he was lifted over and set on Arceus's back, her form starting to grow a little so that she could carry the Spartan. Her Psychic kept his form positioned so that his back wouldn't start to hurt.

"You're free to feel honored, Spartan, for no human in history has ever gotten to see the Hall of Origins and all of it's glory."

Master Chief felt a stronger pressure on his head.

"I'll just make sure that your head doesn't explode from sheer excitement."

John rolled his eyes and groaned at the Alpha's humor. Arceus gently floated off of the table and onto the floor, where her form grew a little bigger so that she could move a little faster around the Hall.

Chief sighed and gently laid onto Arceus's back. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he didn't have a choice in the matter, since the God herself was pretty much telling him to take a tour with her.

"I am NOT! I just want to be a good host and show you around the Hall of Origin so that you don't get lost if you want to go somewhere."

Chief groaned in annoyance. She had just read his mind this time.

"I most certainly have."

He facepalmed.

**Author's Note: Finished finally. Sorry if this chapter seems a little lazy, but I felt a little uninspired when writing this.**

**Or maybe I'm suffering from Artist's Syndrome. **

**Who knows?**


End file.
